A Year at Hogwarts
by zeropolis79
Summary: The Dursleys dumped Harry at his other aunt in Australia. Ten years later, he is taken from the Quidditch World Cup and forced to attend Hogwarts. Will he remain or will he return home. Dumbledore, Snape, Draco bashing. Pairings undetermined. Crossover with Neighbours and Home & Away from 1990's.
1. Chapter 1

**I've made some modifications to the story since it was online last. I took aboard a lot of the feedback from the original and applied it to this new version. Hermione Granger WILL be a Hogwarts student in this version. This story is a slight crossover with 1990s Neighbours and Home & Away. There will be an update every Friday for this. **

**A Year at Hogwarts**

Harry Potter looked at the weird looking building he was being taken too and reflected on things that had brought him there, going back ten years.

 _He was on holiday in Australia with his evil relatives – the Dursleys. From what he knew at the time, Petunia Dursley was his mother's sister, married to Vernon and his cousin was called Dudley. They had received an invitation to Petunia's younger sister's wedding (she was actually Lily Potter's twin sister) and the invitation specifically mentioned Harry and knew questions would be asked if he wasn't there, so they had to take him. It didn't stop them however from buying him the cheapest seat on the plane. They saw it as a chance to get rid of Harry once and for all and so had papers prepared to deal with it. In reality, it was the documents Petunia and Vernon received to transfer custody of Harry to them, but they were never signed. They were modified to take Sarah Evans into account._

 _The moment they got there, Petunia ordered her sister to sign the papers to take custody of Harry otherwise she would not be responsible for what could and would happen if she didn't. She hinted that Harry would not live to return to England. Sarah and her husband Alex had a lot of work to do in order to undo what the Dursleys had done to him – physically and mentally._

 _When he was six, they told him he was a wizard. Sarah was a witch herself. Petunia wasn't – she and Vernon hated the thought of it and drummed it into Harry that magic did not exist. At first, Harry didn't believe it but Sarah showed him magic._

 _When he was 11, he was invited to attend both Hogwarts in England and the Sydney Academy in Australia. Harry choose to go to the Academy, not wanting to be too far from his family._

 _Earlier this year, his cousin Todd died after being knocked over by a car. He looked as if he was going to recover but he took a turn for the worse and sadly died. He left a girlfriend who was pregnant with his child. His death hit Harry very hard. During the summer holidays, in order to cheer him up, Harry was invited by his best friend to go to the Quidditch World Cup in England and with his aunt and uncle's consent, accepted. However, after the game, the grounds were attacked by strange men in weird masks. The group grabbed their belongings and made a break for it. However, the group got separated in the confusion. Harry was seen by some people who took him away following the appearance of a strange mark in the sky._

 _He was taken to a hearing at was explained to him to be the Ministry of Magic, where it was made clear that he was reported missing eleven years ago by a Squib and was never found. It appeared that the Dursleys never informed the British Ministry about a change in guardianship, which by law they were supposed to. The Ministry refused to listen to Harry about his guardians in Australia and told him that until the issue of permanent guardianship was dealt with, he was to be placed in foster care and given a placement at Hogwarts. He heard them mention someone called Black and his claims over the boy._

 _Both someone called Cornelius Fudge (who turned out to be the Minister of Magic) and Albus Dumbledore (who Harry knew by reputation was the Hogwarts headmaster) kept opposing motions by a Delores Umbridge to send him to Azkaban pending such a hearing and Dumbledore suggested the Weasley family. Fudge supported it as two members of the family were working for the Ministry – one of them was a Head of Department. Before Harry and an Auror left the room, Fudge also rejected a motion from Umbridge to confiscate Harry's wand until the latest term at Hogwarts began. She did tell him that owl post was forbidden, he was not to use the floo and he was not allowed to leave the house without someone to supervise him. His bag had been confiscated and Umbridge would not allow the return of it, citing it was 'evidence in a criminal investigation'. Harry began to protest but Fudge declared the hearing closed. Before leaving, the Auror who was escorting him gave him his bag. Her boss - the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement had authorised the return of it and it's contents. She explained that they were checked for Portkeys and nothing else. Oaths were given to that effect._

Now, he was being escorted to this house which looked like it was being held up by magic (and Harry guessed it was – some of the upper levels looked so unstable, they might fall off at any moment) by the same Auror. The woman who was escorting him to the house (who happened to have bright pink hair) stopped and knocked the door. It opened and a middle-age woman answered it.

"Morning Nymphadora." She said. The other woman scowled, apparently not liking the mention of her name. She turned to Harry, "Morning dear. My name is Molly Weasley." She showed Harry and the other girl in and led them to the kitchen. There was a group sitting around the table.

"I saw you at the World Cup!" one of the five boys said.

"This is Harry Potter," Molly Weasley said, "He'll be staying with us until Hogwarts begins. Harry dear, these are my sons Bill, Charlie, Fred, George, Ron and my daughter Ginny." They all said hello. Ginny went red.

"You'll have to ignore her mate," the one indicated as Fred (or was it George) said, "She's had a crush on you for years."

Molly told Harry to sit down while she sorted him out some breakfast.

"Where have you been? People have been looking for you for over ten years!" Bill asked.

"Well, they didn't do a very good job. I've been living in Australia for ten years with my aunt and uncle." Harry answered.

"We heard you were living with Muggles and going through their education system." Charlie added.

"Well, I spent two years with Muggles – my aunt, uncle and cousin are Muggles. My other aunt, who I've been living with is a witch while my other uncle is a Muggle but my two cousins are witches. I've also been attending the Sydney Academy for three years. My cousins will be starting there long after I'm finished."

He told them about the school. Bill had heard of the school, he had a pen-friend who attended there in the 80's.

"What brings you to our humble abode?" George asked.

"Well, because the Dursleys – my Muggle relatives didn't notify anyone I was now living in Australia, I was listed as missing because there are wards and stuff on the Dursley home to say if I was there. I laughed when they brought the Dursleys into the hearing and punished them for doing so and for taking me out of the country – apparently, I'm not allowed out of England for some weird reason."

He looked at them. "I know all about this Boy-Who-Lived thing. What are people here like about it? People in Australia are respectful of it but don't ask questions and I prefer that. Why should I be famous because someone killed my parents?" Harry asked.

"There are people who are obsessed with you." Charlie answered, "Expect lots of stares and stuff while at Hogwarts."

"Does anyone have an owl? I need to get a message to my friend before they return to Australia so they can inform Aunt Sarah what is happening."

The pinked haired Auror turned to him. "I'm sorry, but remember Delores Umbridge has forbidden you from sending owl post."

"What right does she had to do that? I am not even a British citizen." asked Harry.

"She's the Senior Undersecretary to the Minister, Harry, so she has the right to do whatever she wants."

"Could you find the Samson family before they get the international Portkey back to Australia please, and inform them of what has happened."

"I'll try to do that at least," She said, "Oh, my name is Tonks."

She left the house. Molly Weasley carried on preparing food. The Weasley children looked outraged at what the Ministry was doing.

"So," Harry said, "Do you lot attend Hogwarts?"

"I graduated six years ago – I now work for Gringotts," Bill said, "Charlie here finished a year before you would have started. He now works for a Romanian dragon preserve. Our other brother Percy, he's not here right now, began working for the Ministry a month ago – working in the Department of Magical Co-operation."

"He worships his boss," Fred (or George) said, "if Dad didn't make him, he wouldn't come home after work. It's Mr. Crouch this, Mr. Crouch that. They'll be announcing an engagement soon." Most of the room laughed.

"Do you play Quidditch?" Ron asked, changing the subject.

"Not at the moment. I played Chaser on my house team but I had to stop due to some health issues." Harry answered. The others wisely chose not to press it.

"So Harry, any broken hearts down under?" Fred asked.

"Sadly no. As soon as my family find out what's going on, they'll be kicking up a right stink about this. Then I'll be seeing my friends and family again." Harry got out a wallet which had a picture of him with a group of people. "This is my year house group."

"Harry Potter." a voice said. Everyone turned and saw a man standing at the door.

"Hello Harry, it's been a long time since I saw you last." He said. Holding out his hand, he continued, "My name is Sirius Black, your godfather." Determined to be polite, Harry walked over and shook it. He sat back down.

"Now, what have you been up to? I heard you were kidnapped and taken out of the country."

Harry told him what had been going on. When Harry mentioned what the Dursleys had done, Sirius Black looked as if he was going to lose his temper. He was close to losing it over the lies he had been told.

"Alright Harry, since I was supposed to be your rightful guardian, I will deal with the Dursleys." He said, explaining that on the deaths of Harry's parents, either him or Aunt Sarah were to be his guardians, not the Dursleys.

"Does that mean I'll have to come and live with you?" Harry said, with sorrow in his voice.

"If it was up to me Harry, after what I know now, then I would just let you stay with Sarah Evans. Sadly, Dumbledore and the Ministry have filed a custody case regarding you and I can't get it cancelled. You must understand Harry, that only a week ago, we didn't even know if you were alive or dead. The Dursleys never told us of the change in guardianship. If the Ministry rule in my favour at the hearing, I will exercise my rights to sign it over to Sarah."

"Thank you Sirius." Harry said, "I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings."

"No problem kid." Sirius said, "I would rather you stayed in a home where you are happy rather than one that you were unhappy in. Tell you what, if you like, you can stay with me if you visit during holidays or if you don't mind, when you return to Australia, I'll like to come with you."

Harry was unsure what to say. "Thank you." He said.

"Right," Sirius said, turning to Molly, "This is a time to celebrate, have the Hogwarts letters arrived yet?" She nodded. "I'm going to take you all to Diagon Alley and buy you all your supplies!" Everyone looked gobsmacked.

"You don't have to Sirius, we can manage." Molly said.

"Don't talk like that Molly!" Sirius said, "You're looking after Harry. This'll be my way of thanking you. I won't take no for an answer." Molly had to admit she was beaten. Following a floo call to Hogwarts, Harry had his book list – he had to get the Hogwarts text for Ancient Runes and Arthirmancy along with the core subjects. Education was very different at Sydney. For some reason, Dumbledore tried to sign Harry up for Divination. After Harry refused to take it, the Deputy Headmistress promised to deal with it.

Please review, with thanks to those who do.


	2. Chapter 2

_I hope this chapter satisfies each of you who felt Harry was too calm considering the situation in the original version. The Weasleys did nothing wrong, so he has no cause to go after them. I'm uploading this chapter today as I'm having computer problems and I'm going to do a full purge of the system._

 **Chapter Two**

The following day, everyone except Mrs Weasley went to Diagon Alley. The first stop after arriving there was to Gringotts where Sirius withdrew money from the main Black vaults. The goblins knew Harry was safe through his dealings with the Australian branch and confirmed that no-one had been allowed to poke their noses near his vaults.

The stop after that was Florish and Blotts to buy the school books. Ron, the twins and Ginny looked stunned at being brought brand new books. Bill explained to Harry later on in private that the Weasley family were so poor, they had to rely on a scholarship type scheme from Hogwarts to get the children through but it only stretched to buying second hand books and robes. "Charlie and I send a bit of money when we can which helps a little."

Then the next stop was to Madam Malkin's to purchase school robes for Harry, who was in a very foul mood about it. It was the first time he could vent his frustration about the whole situation – he wasn't going to take it out on the Weasley family because it wasn't their fault, but he knew that if he saw Minister Fudge or Delores Umbridge anytime soon, he would hex them and so hoped, for their own sake, the whole issue was sorted out as soon as possible. He realised Dumbledore did what he thought was best considering what he believed but was angry because he didn't do enough. Madam Malkin sympathised with him.

"I know you don't want Hogwarts robes Harry," Sirius explained, "But it's best to go along with it for now until the custody case is heard, following which, you will be able to return to your old school."

New robes were brought for the others too. Ollivander's was the next stop.

"I wondered when I would be seeing you here Mr. Potter. It seemed only yesterday that your parents were in here buying their first wands." The wand maker said. He gave Harry the creeps.

"I already have a wand sir. My aunt brought it for me in Australia." Harry said.

"May I see it please?" Ollivander asked. Harry handed it over and it was inspected. "A fine piece of work here. Did you get it from a man called Yarkanos?" Harry nodded. "A fine wand maker, he is. Take good care of this wand Mr. Potter, it will serve you well." He then turned to Sirius, "I never saw this wand Lord Black."

Sirius stepped forward. "We're here to buy new wands for the Weasley children." There were looks of shock and they were about to protest, but Sirius held his hand up. "I said I was going to buy the supplies and that is that."

Within an hour, Fred, George, Ron and Ginny stepped out of Ollivanders with brand new wands. Previously, the twins had been using the wands of Molly Weasley's elder brothers (both twins), Ron was using Charlie's wand while Ginny was using her grandmother's wand.

* * *

While everyone was occupied with the wands, Harry slipped away. He didn't trust that pink-haired Auror to tell his friends what was going on, so he would raise the alarm himself. He went to the nearest shop which was Madam Malkin's.

"What can I do for you Mr. Potter?" she asked him.

"This is an emergency – I need to make a Floo call. Can I use your fire please?" he asked.

"If it's an emergency, go ahead." She said, pointing it out. She left the room. Harry had no way of knowing Sirius had warned her to expect his visit, suspecting he might want to call someone who could help.

Harry took some powder from the side and threw it into the fire. "Australian Embassy, Office of Jeffery Ramsey." Harry knew he'd never be able to make an international floo call, so would call someone who would be able to. He stuck his head through the fire.

"What can I do for you?" an attractive secretary asked.

"I need to speak to Ambassador Ramsey regarding a matter of the utmost importance." Harry said.

"I'm afraid he's in a meeting right now. Is there anything I can help you with?" the secretary asked.

"Yes. I don't have a lot of time however. My name is Harry James Potter, an Australian resident who lives at 22 Stardust Street, Sydney. Two days ago, at the Quidditch World Cup, held here in England, I was abducted by English Aurors on the orders of Albus Dumbledore, and am being forced to live with a family called Weasley at a home called the Burrow, Ottery St Catchpole, and attend Hogwarts until my guardianship is dealt with. Here is a letter with all the details and Pensive memories of everything, including a farcical criminal trial I was subjected too. I'm one step close to being sent to Azkaban." He had written the letter and extracted the memories while using the bathroom before the Diagon Alley. He was lucky he wasn't searched before the trip. He passed them over to the secretary, whose attention had been attracted the moment he used the words Australian resident and abducted.

"That is very serious Mr. Potter - I'll get Ambassador Ramsey onto this at once!" She said.

"Thank you. I have to go – if I'm caught making a floo call, it'll be straight to Azkaban." Harry said as he removed his head. He thanked Madam Malkin and made his way back to Ollivanders. Luckily, they were still sorting out a wand for Ginny and no-one had missed him.

* * *

Sirius noted the Weasleys looking in the window of Quality Quidditch Supplies and so he and Harry stopped to look with them.

"Do you play Quidditch?" Sirius asked.

"I used to," Harry said, "I was a Chaser on my House team until an accident last year forced me to take a long break from the game."

"What happened?" Fred asked.

"I got hit by a couple of Bludgers and fell from my broom and landed on my leg, breaking it in several places. It was deemed unsafe to heal it with magic, so it had to be done the Muggle way. Even after it healed, it was still not right, so they put a Muggle brace on it," Harry said, lifting up his trouser leg to reveal a Muggle brace holding it in place, "to help keep everything in balance. Hopefully, I'll be able to rejoin the team in a couple of years."

"What broom do you use?" George asked.

"A Supersweep Four." Harry answered. The Weasleys looked at him – the Supersweep Four was the Australian equivalent to the Nimbus 2001.

Sirius took the group into the shop where after much deliberation and negotiations, brought Nimbus 2001's for Ron, Fred, George and Ginny. He then brought Harry a Firebolt.

"Consider it a late birthday present." Sirius said.

"Thank you." Harry said.

* * *

On the way back to the Leaky Cauldron, Harry stopped and looked at Eelops Owl Emporium. A snowy white owl was watching him. Harry went into the shop and the owner watched as the owl continued to watch Harry.

"Looks like she likes you young man." The owner said. He pointed his wand at the cage which opened and the owl flew onto Harry's shoulder and nibbled his ear.

"How much?" Harry asked.

"No charge – I know you'll take great care of her."

"Thank you." Harry said.

* * *

As they returned to the Burrow, there looked like what Ginny later described as a 'Molly Weasley Tantrum'.

"What do you think you're doing buying all that for us?" Molly asked in a loud voice. Sirius decided to tell some home truths.

"Molly, who helped me when my house was destroyed by Death Eaters? You and Arthur. Who spent five years fighting to help prove my innocence? You and Arthur. Who helped clear my name by finding Wormtail? You and Arthur. Who helped nurse me back to health after I was released from Azkaban? You and Arthur. You wouldn't let me give you anything for everything you've done for me so I decided to finally do something about it." Sirius said.

"But, that's a lot of money.." Mrs. Weasley began.

"Molly – what I spent is peanuts compared to what is in the Black Vaults," Sirius said, "You need help financial wise and I've done what I can..." he began but realised he said too much.

"What do you mean by that?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

Sirius knew he had talked himself into a right pickle. "I didn't intend to tell you this. Just after my release from Azkaban, Lucius Malfoy, as a school governor, passed a rule saying funding for 'blood traitors' was to stop. There is no scholarship fund to get the children through Hogwarts. I talked Dumbledore into not letting you know and I've paid the school fees for all the children from then until Ginny's last year. I also slipped money into your vault since then, not too much so not to attract attention. I know what you're like. Arthur works in his department at the Ministry for nothing."

Both Molly and Arthur looked shocked and surprised at this.

"What do you mean – Arthur works for free?" Mrs. Weasley asked with shock and anger in his voice.

"According to Fudge's secretary, Malfoy convinced him to drop the budget to the Misuse of Muggle Artifact's Office to nothing. I've been paying the wages of both Arthur and Perkins. As I said, I don't give a lot as not to attract much attention, I know how proud you are and it would shame you to accept charity. Malfoy also saw to it that the Prewitt money was confiscated following your brother's deaths."

"He did what?" Molly shouted, she was beginning to turn purple.

"He did and guess who got the money?" Sirius asked.

"Malfoy." Everyone answered.

"Got it in one. There's just too much corruption going about the Ministry thanks to Malfoy and the Death Eaters," Sirius said, "Before you say anything Molly," he continued, Molly was looking at him, "You cannot give me any of the money back. Unlike Malfoy, you deserve to have the best of everything and now everything is out in the open, I'm going to make sure of it."

"Thank you." Arthur said. Molly was unsure what to say.

* * *

That night, after he was sure everyone had gone to bed, Harry crept downstairs and outside. He was hoping he had the time factor right and it was the right time in Australia (when he and his friend arrived in the UK, their watches changed time to UK time). He had a two way mirror which was untraceable.

"Sarah Falk." He said to it. A few moments later, the face of his Aunt Sarah appeared on it.

" _Harry! What's going on? The Samsons told me you were taken during a Death Eater attack at the Quidditch World Cup before they were forced to take the departing Portkey._ " She asked.

"That's right – English Aurors took me away and the Ministry of Magic put me on trial for being out of the country illegally!" he said and with anger in his voice, he explained what was going on.

" _I'm going to raise a right stink about this with our Ministry._ " Aunt Sarah said.

"I've already managed to get a message to our embassy here and hopefully Ambassador Ramsey will be sorting things out this end." Harry said.

" _What's that family you're like with?_ " Aunt Sarah asked.

"The Weasleys have been nice." Harry said, "If we take action against anyone here, then they must be left out of it – they've not done anything wrong and I'd rather stay with them than in Azkaban."

" _They wanted to send you to Azkaban?_ " an outraged Aunt Sarah asked.

"Yeah – Fudge's bitchy undersecretary wanted me sent there. Thankfully, Dumbledork and Fudge opposed it." Harry said. Aunt Sarah ignored the bad language.

" _Hold tight – we'll get this whole thing sorted out. Try and call back when you can._ " Aunt Sarah said before hanging up.

* * *

The following day, Ambassador Ramsey went to the Ministry to talk to Minister Fudge and Amelia Bones of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.

"Morning Ambassdor, what I can I do for you?" Fudge asked.

"For a start, you can recede the restrictions your Undersecretary placed on Harry Potter, a citizen of Australia as if he was a common criminal."

"I don't know what you mean." Fudge said.

"Don't give me that Minister," Ramsey said, "I saw the Pensive memories of that farcical trial she held against one of our citizens."

"Harry Potter is a national treasure and belongs in England." Fudge said.

"You lot didn't care when he was dumped with registered magic haters, treated like an animal and subject to that many beatings, it nearly killed him," Ramsey said, "We've done some checking on the legal side of things. As registered magic haters, the Dursley family was not supposed to have him under any circumstances. With Sirius Black in prison, his legal guardian was Mrs. Sarah Falk, or Sarah Evans as she was known at the time of the Potter's deaths. Before you go on about blood relatives, she was a sister of the late Lily Potter."

"From what we were told Ambassador," Madam Bones said, "The Dursleys informed Albus Dumbledore that there was to be no contact by anyone magical otherwise they would not be responsible for what happened to Harry after such a visit. That's why no-one from the Ministry checked up on him."

"And you actually listened to that?" Ramsey asked, astonished, "That should have told you something. We will be perusing things with the Muggle government involving them – by the end of it, they will never harm another child again. By law, the Ministry of Magic are supposed to check up on magical children left with Muggles. The main thing that concerns myself and my government is that you allowed Delores Umbridge to put Mr. Potter on trial just because he lives overseas. I also understand she wanted him charged for casting the Dark Mark at the Quidditch World Cup even though there was no evidence to suggest he did so. She had no right to do that nor did she have the right to place criminal restrictions on him. She also had no right to recommend he be sent to Azkaban."

"I tried to fight it, but she has more power than I do." Madam Bones said.

"This is what will happen. Pending the hearing, which will no doubt bring action against Dumbledore and your administration, you will remove the restriction on his mail and his movements. He will be permitted to go wherever he wants without an escort. Any mail he receives will be sent through my embassy and protected by diplomatic privilege. Charms will be put on the mail to prevent interception and illegal tampering. If this is not done, I will ask my government to bring things up with the International Confederation and have charges brought against you for espionage and I will recommend that diplomatic ties with England be cut."

"I'll do what I can." Madam Bones promised.

"Finally, I have been asked by my government to inform you that we will be perusing charges against Delores Umbridge for holding an illegal trial against an Australian citizen, especially a minor, who has committed no crimes. I find it interesting to find out that Sirius Black, who was suppose to have custody of Mr. Potter, was thrown straight into prison following the Potter's deaths, without a trial or a chance to tell his side of the story. Also, it appears Mrs. Falk was not informed of her sister's death and only found out thanks to the newspapers. One has to wonder why – maybe your administration knew the Dursleys were magic haters and it would be easy to get rid of a problem to your pureblood Death Eater friends without the need for an investigation into Mr. Potter's death or the need for money to change hands."

* * *

In the meantime, Sirius took an international Portkey to Sydney in order to talk to Sarak Falk. He got their address from Harry and knocked on their door. Aunt Sarah opened it, recognised Sirius and slapped him across the face.

"I suppose I deserved that." He said.

"What are you doing here Black?" Aunt Sarah asked, "Haven't you done enough damage?"

"Can I come in and speak to you please? I've come a long way and hate to leave without achieving something." Sirius asked.

"Very well." Aunt Sarah said and led Sirius into the dining room where her two daughters were eating breakfast and her husband Alex was reading the paper.

"This is my husband Alex and our daughters Isobel and Miranda," Aunt Sarah began, "This is Sirius Black, Harry's godfather."

"What do you want?" Alex asked.

"Just to talk and clear some things up," Sirius said, "First of all, I want to thank you for what you've done for Harry. Secondly, I want to assure you that I had nothing to do with his abduction by the British Ministry. It was all done by Albus Dumbledore. I first heard about it when Dumbledore told me that Harry had been found and rescued by our Aurors and that a court case was due to be held over his guardianship."

"We know about the attempts of your Ministry to brand him a criminal," Aunt Sarah asked, "and we will not stand for it. Our government are going to fight this to the highest level. I don't know how things work in England, but we don't go about abducting English citizens, especially children. I will not stand by and let your corrupt government break up my family. I will tell you now that my daughters cried their eyes out for hours when they heard their 'big brother' had been taken away and they might never see him again."

"I'm sorry about that," Sirius said, "The facts of the case are – Harry is staying at a foster home until this whole mess is sorted out and will have to go to Hogwarts in the meantime," Sirius continued, "The Weasley family are old friends of mine, they have seven children of their own and will make sure Harry is well looked after. When it comes to the guardianship hearing, I will have to speak a case for me having guardianship.."

"Then we have nothing else to say." Aunt Sarah interrupted, raising her wand to remove Sirius from the premises.

"Wait a moment," Sirius pleaded, "Our Ministry likes to bend laws. I spent five years in Azkaban without a trial because it was assumed I betrayed your sister and brother-in-law. What I think is that because either of us should have got custody of Harry following their deaths, they threw me in prison and not informed you, so they could send him to registered magic haters. When it was proven that I was innocent, because I'm the head of an ancient and noble house, the Ministry bent over backwards to gain my support and I think that is why they're doing this regarding Harry. I'm hoping the custody case rules in your favour. If they rule in my favour, I will sign custody over to you. I would rather Harry stay somewhere where he will be happy rather than somewhere he would be unhappy. We have to fight our individual cases here – if both of us lose the case and Dumbledore wins, Harry will have to be returned to the Dursleys."

"There is no way in hell he is returning to my supposed sister and her violent psychopath for a husband." Aunt Sarah said.

"Then we had better make sure neither of us lose," Sirius said, "Because Harry is a legal Australian citizen with strong ties with your community along with being a student at Sydney Academy, it's being held by the International Confederation of Wizards. I believe your case is the strongest so with any luck, you will win."

* * *

In Australia, the Australian Minister of Magic was in a meeting with the new Chief Warlock of the International Confederation of Wizards. Dumbledore had been voted out of office over the whole Harry Potter matter.

"It has been voted that because the terms of James and Lily Potter's wills were violated, there will be a hearing into Sirius Black, Sarah Falk and Albus Dumbledore's claims over Harry Potter." The Chief Warlock said.

"Mr. Potter is a legal Australian citizen," the Minister said, "I've examined the wills myself and have had our top legal experts studying them and they tell me that because Sirius Black was incarcerated, Mrs. Sarah Falk's custody of Mr. Potter was perfectly legal. What was not legal was the Dursleys signing him over to her. Be warned, we are prepared to make a big deal over this, especially over Delores Umbridge's attempts to put Mr. Potter in Azkaban. Our representatives will be dealing with this during the hearing."

Little did they know, there was going to be another bombshell dropped soon.


	3. Chapter 3

_**The first of the major changes starts here. I introduce Hermione Granger here but this is not a Hermione bashing story, she does change. But she believes every word Dumbledore speaks.**_

 **Chapter Three**

"How do you get to school in Sydney?" Ginny Weasley asked. It was a week later - they were on the Hogwarts Express making their way to Hogwarts. Harry was surprised they used a train to go to Hogwarts, although Aunt Sarah had already told him about it when telling stories of her time at school.

"It depends on where you are in relation to the school," Harry began, "Because I live in Sydney, my Aunt Sarah takes me in a Muggle car to an underground car park, which is apparently hidden from the Muggles with the same sort of wards that hide the Leaky Cauldron from Muggles. From there, you walk through a passage which takes you to the main hall."

"Wow," Ron said.

"If you live in another of the Australian cities, you might also get taken in a Muggle car or bus, depending on circumstances. If you lived in say Adelaide or Melbourne, you would use a Portkey if you're Muggle born or Muggle raised or if you have a family member who can, you can apparate there. The Portkey and apparation point is in a special room next to the underground car park."

"Why can't we have something like that at Hogwarts?" Ron asked, "These train journeys get rather boring, not to mention we have to get up really early."

Harry knew exactly how he felt – Mrs. Weasley had them all up at 5 AM. Following a major rush in which all the Weasleys had forgotten to pack items, there was breakfast in which they were only given two minutes to eat before more packing had to be done. Harry had packed his trunk the previous night. Sirius had to check it – he told Harry it was better than the Aurors executing a search warrant issued by Umbridge and planting dark items that would see Harry in Azkaban before the day was out. Being Lord Black meant his word meant something. They then used a magically expanded Ford Anglia (which Harry was sure was illegal, it would be in Australia) to drive to King's Cross Station (after refusing to return to collect items that had still been forgotten, Mrs. Weasley told them that she would have them sent on – Ginny pouted because she had forgotten her diary and no amounts of looking cute and innocent would make Mr. Weasley turn back). Ron told Harry that his father had made his mother believe that the car was bigger on the inside thanks to the Muggles although he suspected she didn't believe him.

While Harry was talking to Ginny, the compartment door opened and a voice could be heard.

"Hey, Weasley," the voice said, apparently addressing Ron, "You planning on entering and earning some much needed glory for your family?"

"Entering what?" Ron asked.

"You don't know – a brother along with your father working for the Ministry," the boy said, "I've known since Minister Fudge told my father. I suppose it pays to have good connections."

"Actually, you're talking about the Triwizard Tournament." Harry said. Everyone looked at him, "I've known since the Ministry tried to talk the Sydney Academy into participating earlier this year. The school took a vote on the matter and the majority said no. I was one of the people who said no."

"Who are you?" the boy asked.

"Who are you?" Harry asked.

"Draco Malfoy," the boy said, "and you are?"

"Harry Potter."

"You should be able to do better for yourself, Potter," Malfoy said, "Hanging about with blood traitors – you won't get far at Hogwarts hanging about with them."

"Actually Malfoy, I would rather be anywhere than here," Harry said, "I was only staying with them because your precious Minister Fudge and that idiot Dumbledore said I had to. I don't blame the Weasleys at all and if you looked beyond prejudice and tried to get along, you'll find some people pleasant company."

"Things are different at Hogwarts, Potter," Malfoy said, "Forget what you learnt at that school you've been attending about how Purebloods and Mudbloods should get along and members of other houses associating. You're a Potter, which - like the Malfoys - are a pureblood family. I'm prepared to overlook the fact your father dirtied his line by marrying a Muggleborn, I can help you find your proper place in our society."

He held out his hand – Harry looked at it.

"I'll think about it alright," Harry said, "If what you say is true and members of different houses don't associate or get along, it'll be best to save it IF I get sorted into Slytherin. I don't think your father would be too happy if you made friends with me now only for me to be sorted into a house other than Slytherin."

"You have a point there, Potter," Draco said, "If you get sorted into Slytherin, maybe we can be friends."

"Maybe." Harry said.

Draco and his two friends left the compartment.

"Are you serious about being friends with him?" Ron asked.

"Not really," Harry said, "I can't see me being sorted into Slytherin. I know my parents were in Gryffindor and going by your family, I might end up in there or Ravenclaw, but I won't be here long enough to participate in house rivalries. Also, it was an easy way to shut him up – either that or hex him and I don't want to give them an excuse to find some reason to keep me here in England."

A little bit further into the trip, a bushy haired girl stopped by the carriage.

"Are you Harry Potter?" the girl asked. Harry nodded, "I'm Hermione Granger. I heard how the great and wonderful Albus Dumbledore rescued you from those Australians kidnappers! I read all about you when I got extra books for background reading and wondered why you never went to Hogwarts. Professor Dumbledore said you were in hiding for your own safety."

"Ignore everything you read in those books about me Miss Granger," Harry said, "all of it are lies authorised by Dumbledore to hide the fact I was living in Australia with my aunt, which was perfectly legal." He got an Australian newspaper out of his trunk and gave it to her. "Take a look at this, which presents the full facts of the case. You won't hear anything about it in the Prophet yet as the Ministry wants to gain a victory first."

Hermione Granger then walked away with the newspaper.

"Who is she?" Harry asked.

"Ravenclaw, Muggle-born." Ginny said, "she worships authority figures. She got resorted into Ravenclaw after serious abuse from Gryffindors."

* * *

Several hours later at Hogwarts.

"Welcome, everyone, to a new year at Hogwarts." Dumbledore said at a stand, "Before we sort our new students, I wish to announce that Harry Potter will finally be attending Hogwarts after three years at the Sydney Academy of Magic and he will be sorted first."

Harry walked in from the Entrance Hall (where the first years were waiting) and walked towards a stool, standing next to which was who he was told was the Transfiguration teacher, Head of Gryffindor and Deputy Headmistress Minvera McGonagall. She was holding some raggy old looking hat. He sat on the stool and McGonagall put the hat on him.

 _Welcome at last Harry Potter. So, you've been at another school all this time. I know you don't want to be here, but it's best to play along with everyone's delusions for now_ _._ _If you don't let me sort you, then it will mean the Ministry will snap your wand and bind your magic and you will never see your family in Australia again. But where to put you? Your mother would set me on fire from beyond the grave if I put you into Slytherin. Sarah Evans would do the same. Hufflepuff isn't right for you, so it's a tie between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw, let me think._

After a few moments, it made its decision.

"RAVENCLAW!" it shouted. The Ravenclaw table clapped as Harry walked over there. He sat next to a girl who was wearing a prefect badge. Hermione Granger was sitting opposite.

"Marianne Valentine," she said, shaking Harry's hand, "it's a pleasure to meet you. If you wait after the feast, I'll show you to the common room."

"Thank you." Harry said.

McGonagall then brought in the first year students to be sorted. Dumbledore then stood back up at his stand following the sorting.

"Now we're all settled in and sorted, I'd like to make an announcement. This castle will not only be your home this year but home to some very special guests as well. You see Hogwarts has been chosen..."

A man came in and ran up the aisle limping in a comical way, he whispered something to Dumbledore before leaving in the same fashion.

"So Hogwarts has been chosen to host a legendary event - the Tri-Wizard tournament. Now for those of you who do not know, the tri-wizard tournament brings together three schools for a series of magical contests. From each school a single contestant is selected to compete. Now let me be clear, if chosen you stand alone. And trust me when I say these contests are not for the faint-hearted, but more of that later. For now please join me in welcoming the lovely ladies of the Beauxbatons Academy of Magic and their headmistress Madam Maxime."

A group of girls dressed in blue dance up the aisle and release butterflies into the air. Harry could notice Ron and all the other boys staring at them. He saw the final girl and recognised her. As the students reached the end of the rows, they bowed and everyone applauds. A very tall woman followed them.

"Blimey, that's one big woman." One Gryffindor was heard to remark.

"And now our friends from the north, please greet the proud sons of Durmstrang and their high master Igor Karkaroff!" Dumbledore finished.

A series of older boys walked into the hall and up the aisle brandishing bo staffs, twirling them around and periodically stabbing them into the ground sending up sparks. The students saw a very familiar face walking behind the group.

"Blimey it's him, Viktor Krum!" Ron exclaimed.

At the end of the display, two of the Drumstrang students breathed fire which were shaped like dragons. The Durmstrang headmaster and Dumbledore then shared an embrace. The Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students went to find seats.

"Fleur!" Harry called out, "Over here."

The French girl walked over to Harry.

"Harry! What are you doing here?" Fleur Delacour asked.

"Long story, I'll explain in a minute." He said. She sat down. Marianne turned to Harry.

"How do you know her?" she asked.

"I went to Sydney on an exchange trip and met Harry. He showed me the ropes and we became good friends." Fleur said.

The caretaker and some people had just brought in a huge thing and placed it in front of the staff table. Dumbledore came up to it.

"Your attention please! I would like to say a few words. Eternal glory, that is what awaits the student who wins the tri-wizard tournament. But to do this that student must survive three tasks. Three extremely dangerous tasks. For this reason the ministry has seen fit to impose a new rule. To explain all this we have the head of the department of international magic cooperation Mister Bartimus Crouch."

Clunking could be heard and everyone looked as a strange looking man walked into the Great Hall.

"It's Mad-Eye Moody." Marianne said.

"Who?" Harry and Fleur asked.

"He was an Auror. Half the cells in Azkaban are full thanks to him. He's supposed to be mad as a hatter though these days."

As the man walked to the desk, a Ministry official stepped forward.

"After much deliberation the ministry has concluded that for their own safety no student under the age of seventeen shall be allowed to put forth their name for the tri-wizard tournament. This decision is final." Mr. Crouch said.

"That's rubbish! You don't know what you're doing!" George Weasley shouted.

"Silence!" Dumbledore shouted, before waving his wand over the box which melted away, revealing a big goblet, filled with blue flames. "The Goblet of Fire. Anyone wishing to submit themselves for the tournament merely write their name and school upon a piece of parchment and throw it in the flame before this hour on Thursday night. Do not do so lightly, if chosen there's no turning back. As from this moment, the tri-wizard tournament has begun."

* * *

In the Ravenclaw Common Room, Harry saw someone familiar. Harry walked over to her.

"Hello, Harry Potter." Luna Lovegood said.

"Hello, Luna." Harry said, "It's good to see you again. Did you end up finding any Nargles?"

Luna and her father had gone to Australia during the Christmas Holidays to look for some creatures called Nargles. She met Harry by chance in a forest just near his house and the two became firm friends. She promised not to tell anyone at Hogwarts where he was – she had told him that Dumbledore was looking for him.

"Yes, we did. Thank you for pointing us in the right direction," she said, "what are you doing here?"

"Dumbledore had me snatched from the Quidditch World Cup and now I'm being forced to attend Hogwarts." He answered.

"You'll be back at your school soon." Luna replied.

Hermione then went up to him. "How could this paper print all these lies! Lily Potter only had a Muggle sister! She had no twin sister, especially one who lives in Australia."

"Hermione Granger," Luna interrupted, "don't believe everything you read in something authorised by Dumbledore. Harry does have an aunt who lives in Australia, I've met her. Do you want Harry to be raised by Magic hating muggles?"

"But Dumbledore said they don't hate magic," Hermione countered, "they just don't understand it."

"Hermione," Harry cut in, "the Dursleys are psychotic magic haters who feel violence is the only way to deal with things they don't like. They took me to Australia and dumped me with my mother's twin sister. I hear you had a Remus Lupin teaching Defence last year. Write to him and ask. He was one of my father's best friends so he can tell you."

"But..." Hermione began, but someone showed Harry to his dorm.

* * *

Harry's first lesson was Potions and it was a Ravenclaw/Slytherin joint class. Terry Boot told him that it was strange since they normally had Potions with the Hufflepuffs. Snape was right on Harry's case the moment the lesson started.

"Mr. Potter, so you finally see fit to attend Hogwarts. Just because you got it easy from a former colony of criminals doesn't mean you'll get the same treatment from me. Like your father, I'd expect no more than cheating and sabotage."

"As it happens _Professor_ Snape, I got my Potions lessons at Sydney from Timothy Crichton, who as I understand, is a worldwide Potions Master. Incidentally, when the Australian Embassy passed on some messages from the Academy, Professor Crichton asked me to say hello for him and to respectfully remind you that you owe him fifty galleons from your last Poker game." Harry answered. Snape didn't say anything but put the day's Potion on the board and told them to get to work. Without Snape noticing, Harry erected a small barrier around his cauldron.

"I've heard things about these classes from the Weasleys," Harry explained to Terry in a whisper, "We brewed this Potion during my second year at the Academy." Hermione glared at him.

An hour later, Snape went around checking the potions. As predicted, all the Slytherin potions were passed. He came to Harry's potion and took one look at it. He grunted and reluctantly gave it an O grade. Snape admitted to himself that the potion was perfect and it could not be faulted. Hermione's potion got an E despite being as good. After the students were dismissed, he held Harry back a moment.

"When you get in touch with Timothy Crichton, tell him I'll get the money to him eventually, but a good Potions Master should not feel the need to cheat." He said.

"I'll be sure to let him know, sir." Harry answered.

After the lesson finished, Terry took Harry aside. "If you don't want to be here, why do the work?"

"I'm not going to give them an excuse to bind my magic and send me somewhere very unpleasant. Tell me, does Snape always undergrade Hermione Granger's work?"

"Yes - he hates her completely. Apparently, she might not be Muggle-born - it's rumoured she's a descendant of a world renowned Potions master but she refuses to acknowledge it or even let Snape see any of his written materials."

* * *

The following day, Hedwig flew in and dropped a letter in front of Harry. He took it, then felt himself being scanned then the letter opened for him. Harry took it out and read it.

"It's from the International Confederation – a hearing into my guardianship has been arranged for the weekend." He said to Marianne, who was next to him.

* * *

That night, it was time for the Goblet of Fire to decide on the contestants for the Triwizard.

"It is almost time for the Goblet to choose our champions," Dumbledore said, "I calculate it will take a few more minutes." He waved his hand and the torches around the room went out, leaving only the bright blue light from the Goblet lighting the room. The flame died down a little then spat out a piece of parchment. Dumbledore reached over and grabbed it.

"The Durmstrang champion is Viktor Krum!" Dumbledore said, reading it. There was a massive round of applause for the Quidditch star, who left the Great Hall and went into a small room to the side. A couple of seconds later, the goblet spat out another piece of parchment, this time resembling a circle.

"The Beaubatons champion is Fleur Delacour." There was even more applause as the tall girl got up and went into the same room as Krum. After a couple more seconds, another piece of parchment was spat out of the goblet, which was caught by Dumbledore.

"The Hogwarts champion is Cedric Diggory!" There was an even louder round of applause as Cedric Diggory – a Hufflepuff student got up and left the hall.

"We have our three champions. I hope you will support them..." Dumbledore began, but noticed everyone was staring at the goblet, which was spitting blue flames again. A piece of parchment flew out of the goblet and into Dumbledore's hands.

"Harry Potter?" Dumbledore asked, looking at the parchment. "Harry Potter!"

"What's going on?" Harry asked, "Is that thing working right?" Everyone was staring at him.

"Harry – you have to come up." Dumbledore said.

Reluctantly, Harry got up and went into the side room.

"Is there something wrong?" Fleur asked.

Before Harry could say anything, Dumbledore, Professors McGonagall and Snape along with Barty Crouch, Madam Maxime and Karkaoff came in.

"Did you put your name in the Goblet or ask someone to do it for you?" Dumbledore asked.

"No." Harry said.

"He's lying – he wants to give Hogwarts a second chance at victory." Maxime said.

"I agree – I didn't know the host school was allowed two champions, unless I didn't read the rule book right." Karkaoff said.

"Listen here," Harry said, "I don't care about giving victory to Hogwarts. I don't even want to be here. I'd rather be at Sydney than here. Especially with him (Harry pointed at Snape) making snide remarks to me about my father and the fact that I chose another school rather than go here. Another thing – what is Professor Snape doing here in this meeting when it does not concern him, or is it just another excuse for him to make jibes about me and my family? If anyone should be here, it should be Professor Flitwick as my head of house."

No-one said anything. McGonagall glared at Snape. She had warned him before term began that she was not going to tolerate any jibes from Snape to Harry, just because he looked like James Potter.

"Professors, Headmistress, Mr. Crouch," Fleur began, "I know Harry here, I met him on an exchange trip to Sydney two years ago. If he says he didn't put his name in the Goblet, then I believe him and I will help him through this."

Barty Crouch stepped forward. "I will order the Goblet of Fire to be examined. In the meantime, we have four champions. The first task will take place on October 30th and I recommend that our champions familiarise themselves with the Hogwarts grounds and Hogsmeade Village." And with that, Crouch walked out. Minutes later, the students were dismissed.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

The following day, Harry walked through the school with some people watching him. He went to the Great Hall and sat down at the Ravenclaw table. Several people walked up to him.

"We believe you didn't put your name in," Marianne (the Prefect) said, "We heard rumours that some people have been plotting for things to happen should you turn up at Hogwarts."

Harry looked bemused.

"There are some people who worked for You-Know-Who before you vanquished him," Marianne continued, "and they got away with the crimes they committed, due to either bribery or claims of being under the Imperius curse, which were never investigated. My father told me that they swore revenge on you for destroying their master. It seems, Lucius Malfoy planted an enchanted diary on a Gryffindor student which forced her to open a legendary chamber of secrets and released the monster of Slytherin. We overheard Draco Malfoy brag about it and was hoping you would turn up that year, just so it could kill you, leaving his father's hands clean. It is because of this, we believe you. Just a word of warning though, Cedric Diggory is a Quidditch hero for Hufflepuff, so they won't take this well."

"Thank you." Harry said, "What happened about that incident?"

"There's a rumour going about that Dumbledore's phoenix rescued the student and destroyed the monster of Slytherin while Dumbledore himself destroyed the enchanted diary. Everything else about it is being kept a secret."

* * *

Until today, Harry had no idea what the Gryffindors were like in class. He didn't see how much Ron knew as Molly Weasley wouldn't allow magic to be practiced during the holidays, although Harry knew that the Ministry would have no way of knowing who was casting the spells (in Sydney, underage magic was permitted as long as it was in the confines of the witch or wizard's home and if Muggles were in the house, they had to know about magic in the first place – Harry's Uncle Alex had full knowledge of magic, he was a Squib and his parents were magical but unlike England, the Australians didn't disown Squibs). (What Molly Weasley didn't know was that when he and Ron were supposed to be sleeping (they were sharing a room), Harry taught Ron spells that he learnt at Sydney the previous year). The Gryffindors and Ravenclaws were in the same class and it was being taught by Professor McGonagall. She was teaching Switching Spells, which Harry had already learnt the previous year at Sydney. Somehow, one Gryffindor (Harry later learnt his name was Neville Longbottom) managed to transfigure his ears onto a cactus. Harry noted that Neville was suffering from a severe lack of confidence. McGonagall gave a few words, she warned that the OWLs were approaching and they needed all the practice they could get.

"May I remind you, Mr. Thomas," she said, addressing a black Gryffindor boy who had protested, "Your pincushion still curls up in fear if you try to approach it with pins. It pains me to think that none of my Gryffindors can produce a satisfactory transfiguration from hedgehog to pincushion."

She decided to turn to Harry. "Mr. Potter – let's see what they've been teaching you at Sydney." She passed a hedgehog over to Harry who within seconds, turned it into a perfect pincushion (he had been taught that the previous year too). Hermione Granger glared at him. She had been able to change hers but not as perfect as Harry's.

"Five points to Ravenclaw," she said, "It seems your time has not been wasted."

The rest of the lesson went alright (Ron managed to do a good transformation but wasn't perfect but still earned a few points for Gryffindor) but McGonagall had one more thing to say before the class was dismissed.

"Longbottom – kindly do NOT reveal in front of anyone from Durmstrang or Beauxbatons that you cannot perform a simple Switching Spell. It's bad enough Mr. Potter had to witness it."

"Is she always like this?" Harry asked Ron not long after the lesson finished.

"Most of the time," Ron said, "She and Snape tie for the most unpopular teacher in the school. At least she doesn't bully Neville all of the time. At the last count, Neville's melted at least a dozen cauldrons in Potions."

"Does everyone bully him?" Harry asked.

"Snape and the Slytherins do – they practically call him a Squib most of the time. His best subject is Herbology but he can't fly a broom to save his life. During flying lessons in our first year, his broom went out of control and he fell off, breaking his wrist. When Madam Hooch took him to the Hospital Wing, Malfoy took his Remembrall that his grandmother sent him that day and threw it against a wall, smashing it. We think either money changed hands or Snape stepped in as despite being over twenty witnesses to it, he didn't even get a detention." Ron answered. "I heard Madam Longbottom really made a fuss over it and threatened to declare a Blood Feud against the Malfoys."

* * *

Two days later, Harry and Dumbledore went to the Ministry of Magic for his hearing, presided over by the International Confederation of Wizardry. The Australian Ambassador was there to look after Harry's interests, the case facing major uproar back in Australia. There were calls for an Australian Auror squad to go to England to remove Harry, but the Australian Minister told the people via the national newspaper that everything would be done legally without the need for violence.

"This is a hearing convened by the International Confederation of Wizardry. It is to cover the abduction of Harry James Potter on order of Albus Percival Wolfric Brian Dumbledore and the future custody of Harry Potter. Filing for custody of Harry James Potter are Mrs. Sarah Falk, Lord Sirius Black, Professor Albus Dumbledore and Lord Lucius Malfoy," Warlock Jansen said (there were many gasps from the crowd), "The chair recognises Professor Dumbledore."

Dumbledore stepped forward. "When Harry's parents were murdered by Voldemort, I took the decision to place Harry in the custody of his Muggle aunt and uncle. Lily Potter's sacrifice created a bond which protected Harry from harm if he could call his aunt's home his home. I wanted him raised a Muggle with no knowledge of magic until it was time to attend Hogwarts."

"Then why," the Warlock asked, "Does the reports from Vernon and Petunia Dursley themselves along with medical reports from the time of the adoption confirm that Mr. Potter had been close to death because of their savage beatings, in desperation to make him a Muggle?"

"I made a mistake there Warlock. I had wards on the house to inform me on his well-being plus a Squib agent. Both reported that Harry had vanished and the Dursleys would not tell us what happened. I therefore had to report him missing. We didn't think to look out of the country. When one of my agents reported seeing him at the Quidditch World Cup, I made a spur-of-the-moment decision to retrieve him. For all I knew, he was in danger. I believe it is in his best interests to be isolated from our world when not at school – it places him in too much danger and being placed with the Dursleys will ensure that."

"Very well Dumbledore, we will decide your fate later on hearing the rest of the evidence." He turned to Sirius Black. "Mr. Black, please give me a good reason why you should be awarded custody over Sarah Falk, who happens to be Lily Potter's twin sister?"

"Chief Warlock, I was named in James and Lily's will as Harry's guardian in the event of their deaths. Mrs. Falk, then Miss. Evans, was named as secondary guardian in case I was unable to take custody. I feel Harry's best interests are served by being in England." Sirius Black said.

"Then why did you allow a Rubeus Hagrid to take him to the Dursley household, knowing what they are like, then go and hunt down Peter Pettigrew, then allow yourself to be thrown into Azkaban. How could you serve Harry's best interests in prison?"

"Hagrid was acting on orders from Dumbledore – I knew that I had no chance of getting Harry. My intention was to capture Peter, hand him over to the Ministry and then get Harry. When that happened, I decided to go and get Pettigrew. It was common knowledge that I was the Potter's secret keeper but he was. Barty Crouch was not one to conduct fair trials and would have imprisoned me. I needed Peter as proof that I was not the secret keeper." Sirius said.

"You may step down." Sirius stepped down. "The chair now calls Mrs. Sarah Falk." Warlock Jansen said.

Sarah stood up. She explained how the Dursleys met her during her wedding and gave her the papers to give custody of Harry over to her, telling her that he was just a pointless freak which no-one wanted. She had made it clear to Petunia that despite what she thought of magic, it was no excuse to treat Harry they way they did. She also told them that Petunia hinted that if Sarah didn't sign the papers, Vernon might have murdered Harry before returning to England. Signed witness statements on how well Harry was treated by the Falks were entered into evidence. The Academy's Headmistress reported on how excellent his grades were.

"We now call Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge." The Warlock said. Fudge sat down in the chair.

"We know the legend of Harry Potter and how much this country thinks of him. Why isn't he allowed to live a life other citizens are entitled to?" the Warlock asked.

"Because he is a national treasure, it is in his best interests to remain in England. We have a placement with the Auror Office ready for him when he graduates from Hogwarts or even a placement as Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher and there are plans to find him a nice pureblood wife who will bare him a family." Fudge said.

"And what Mr. Potter wants doesn't matter?" the Warlock asked.

"When it comes to Mr. Potter, then no." Fudge said. There were many shouts of disbelief from visiting Australians. The Warlock had to call for order and the noise slowly died down.

"Well, as it happens," the Warlock said, consulting some papers he had been given, "He has no interest in becoming an Auror or a teacher. He has another career in mind and has an apprenticeship in place for it after he finishes school. Why did you allow Delores Umbridge, your undersecretary, to impose restrictions on him as if he was a criminal?"

"Delores felt that Mr. Potter was a criminal and a traitor, leaving this country to live in Australia. She had wanted the Potter Estate confiscated for what she called a treasonous crime. She told me that by imposing these restrictions should prevent further crimes in the future." Fudge said.

"We shall be dealing with her later. She has violated several laws by imposing criminal restrictions against a minor citizen of another country without cause. It might interest you to know that the Australian Ministry has issued a warrant for her arrest and a request for extradition."

He turned to Lucius Malfoy who took a seat.

"Lord Malfoy, your claim for custody is the most recent. As this court engages in fair play, we will listen to you – please tell the court why you should have custody of Mr. Potter over these other people."

"Chief Warlock, Mr. Potter is related to my family though my wife, who is a granddaughter of Cygnus Potter, who was the husband of Druella Black. Cygnus Potter's brother, Charles, is Harry's grandfather. The law states that close blood relations on the magical side have first say on guardianship. So, unless there is any objection, I believe my wife is more entitled to custody over everyone else in this room. We have a good home, I have a son and I will make sure Harry is well looked after."

"Thank you Lord Malfoy, you may step down," the Chief Warlock said, "We will now hear from Mr. Potter."

Harry took a seat.

"Mr. Potter, before your trip to England to see the Quidditch World Cup, had you met Lord Black, Professor Dumbledore or Lord Malfoy before?"

"I probably knew Lord Black and Professor Dumbledore before my parents' deaths but to the best of my knowledge, I've never seen Lord Malfoy until the World Cup – I saw him walking to the top box with Minister Fudge. I thought nothing of it at the time as I didn't know who either was." Harry began. He had another comment in mind but was mature enough to keep it to himself.

"In your own words, what are the finances and home life like at the Falk household?" the Warlock asked.

"My Uncle Alex has a good paying job – he's head of a major hotel and leisure complex and brings home a very good wage. Aunt Sarah doesn't work, she stays at home to raise my two young cousins. She did tell me that when my Muggle grandparents died, they split their estate three ways, but Aunt Petunia tried to keep it all for herself. She told me my father paid for it all to go to court and it ended up fairly divided."

"What about the Potter money? Does any of that get used for your upkeep?" the Warlock asked.

"No," Harry said, "I've known about it since I was told I was a wizard by Aunt Sarah. My trust fund is used to cover school expenses and any other purchases I make which uses wizarding money. I am given pocket money in Muggle currency. As for my home life, it's great. I have friends in the neighbourhood – both Muggle and Magical. My young cousins see me more as a big brother than a cousin and I take great delight in tormenting them and they love it, especially 'tickle torture'. No-one pays attention to the whole Boy-Who-Lived thing over there, which pleases me. I hate it! Why should I gain fame when my parents were murdered?"

"Thank you Mr. Potter, you may step down. We will now retire to consider our verdict." The Warlock answered. Ten minutes later, they returned.

"It has been decided that Albus Dumbledore, while acting in what he thought was Mr. Potter's best interests, overstepped his authority. He is fined a total of 5,000 galleons. He is also fined an additional 10,000 galleons for overriding the Potter's custodial preferences. Sirius Black – your application for custody of Harry Potter is thrown out. We have concluded that you did not act in his best interests following the deaths of his parents. Lord Malfoy – it concerns us that a former Death Eater is seeking custody of the Boy-Who –Lived."

"I was under the Imperius curse!" Malfoy shouted.

"Those claims were not proven and if it was up to me, I would have you questioned via Veritaserum here and now. The fact you were freed without trial based on the words _Imperius_ _Curse_ does not matter here, what does matter that you were part of Lord Voldemort's inner circle. We find it will not be in Mr. Potter's best interests for him to live with you. These custody rulings are final, with prejudice."

Both Sirius and Lucius looked as if they didn't know what he meant.

"It means, Lords Black and Malfoy, you cannot refile for custody later on. Mrs. Sarah Falk – your application to continue your present custody arrangements is granted. Mr. Potter, I understand that you are still healing from a serious Quidditch injury? (Harry nodded) Was it made clear to you that for medical reasons, you could either forfeit the Triwizard Tournament or appoint someone else to take your place?"

"No, it was not made clear. All that happened during that meeting was the Headmistress and Headmaster of Beaubatons and Durmstrang accusing Hogwarts of cheating while Fleur Delacour, the Beauxbatons champion, defended me against their accusations. Then Mr. Crouch informed us about the first task. Not once was the choice of forfeiting or nominating a replacement made. I did attempt to look up the rule book in the Hogwarts library the following day and was told that the book had been removed from the library the day before term began." Harry answered.

"That is serious," the Warlock said, "Had you been given the chance to forfeit or appoint another champion in your place during that first meeting, you would have been able to leave the tournament without consequence, and then you could have returned home today. Now because of it, you have to compete, or at least, attend the tasks. However, despite the fact Mr. Potter did not enter himself and due to misconduct on the part of the Triwizard judges in not informing him about his rights, he will not be representing Hogwarts but his rightful school – the Sydney Academy. Mr. Potter – you should know that on attending the tasks, if you feel you cannot perform in a task due to medical reasons, you have the right to forfeit that task. I find it very suspicious that the rule book on the Triwizard was removed from the Hogwarts library."

"Thank you." Harry said.

"Our next ruling is that the criminal restrictions against him be rescinded. As the Australian Ambassador made it clear to you before, all his owl post is to be unrestricted and it is protected by diplomatic immunity. Mr. Potter has committed no crimes. He left the country legally and although he was left with one of his relations, his Australian citizenship is legal in both the Muggle and Magical worlds. In other words Minister Fudge, if your Aurors or any other member of your staff interfere with his mail, then the people involved will be arrested for espionage. At the end of the Triwizard Tournament, wherever Mr. Potter wins or not, he will be permitted to return to Australia unmolested should he choose to."

"Sir," Harry said, "During that farce of a hearing, my bag was confiscated on orders of Delores Umbridge, citing it was evidence in a criminal investigation and while Amelia Bones of the DMLE authorised it's return, several letters I had in the bag and my journal, which contained friends and family contact details were not returned to me."

"Finally, we are granting the extradition request of the Australian Ministry. Aurors will arrest Delores Umbridge and surrender her to the Australian Ambassador, who will have her transported to Australia for questioning over her crimes against an Australian citizen. Your statement about your belongings is serious Mr. Potter. Her office will be searched for these letters and the journal."

Five minutes later, Delores Umbridge was brought in kicking and screaming by ICW Aurors. She was taken over to Ambassador Ramsey and the Australian Aurors. An ICW Auror walked up to the Warlock with rolls of parchment, a pile of papers and a leather-bound book.

"She tried to burn these when we apprehended her." He said, handing them over.

The Warlock unrolled it and read it. "We're always fascinated when we see death warrants, especially against minors and those who have done nothing wrong. Let the record show that ICW Auror Peter Bischoff has just given the Chief Warlock a roll of parchment which authorises the use of the Dementor's Kiss on Harry James Potter, to be carried out on the first trip to Hogsmeade. It also appears that all it needs is the signature of Cornelius Fudge. I was also handed over letters addressed to Mr. Potter from various friends and family members in Australia in addition to a journal belonging to Mr. Potter. There are also international arrest and death warrants for Mrs. Sarah Falk, Mr. Alexander Falk, Miss. Miranda Falk, Miss. Isobel Falk, Professor Helen Daniels of the Sydney Academy. Dementors were to be sent to their places of residence and all were to be kissed. Two of the above named are minors under the age of five."

All the Australian representatives went purple and it looked like there was going to be a riot. Ambassador Ramsey stood up.

"Chief Warlock, in light of this new evidence, we will be adding charges of attempted murder to her indictment." He said.

Fudge then stood up. "I would never authorise the use of the Dementor's Kiss on children." He protested.

"We will be giving you the benefit of the doubt for now Minister," Ambassador Ramsey said, "Pending a full investigation. We have enough evidence to lock your Senior Undersecretary up for a very long time. With your permission Chief Warlock, we will now take the prisoner away. We will send the results of our investigation to both you and the English Ministry upon it's completion." An Auror gave the rolls of parchment to Ramsey. The letters and journal were returned to Harry.

"You haven't heard the last of me!" Umbridge shouted as Ramsey activated a Portkey.

* * *

Harry returned to school to find certain people, mostly Slytherins, some Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors wearing badges. They read: **SUPPORT CEDRIC DIGGORY, THE TRUE HOGWARTS CHAMPION**.

"Fancy a laugh Potter?" Draco Malfoy asked, although Harry had met him on the Hogwarts Express, he knew nothing about the boy besides the fact he was in Slytherin and he sabotaged people's potions. Some students were watching. He pushed the badge and the words **POTTER STINKS** appeared. On other badges, the alternative messages were: **POTTER IS A CHEAT AND A LIAR** and **POTTER IS A DEAD MAN**. Harry just ignored him and turned to walk away.

"How dare you ignore your masters, Potter!" Malfoy shouted, "I am a pureblood and you are the son of a mudblood whore and you will obey me!" Harry continued walking. Malfoy got his wand out and started to speak an unforgivable.

"Oh no you don't!" Mad Eye Moody said, using his wand and Malfoy vanished. A white ferret was in his place. Moody used his wand to levitate the animal and bounce it up and down on the floor. He then stuffed the ferret down another Slytherin's trousers. Everyone started laughing but stopped as a familiar voice could be heard.

"Professor Moody!" it was Professor McGonagall, "What are you doing?"

"Teaching." Moody said without a care in the world.

"Is that a student?" McGonagall asked.

"Technically, it's a ferret." Moody answered. McGonagall waved her wand and Malfoy turned back to normal.

"My father will have you in prison for this!" he said, "and he'll have your families because you laughed at your pureblood master."

"Your father!" Moody shouted, "I could tell you things about your father that would make even your greasy hair curl!" He grabbed the boy.

"We don't use transfiguration as a punishment," McGonagall said, "We give detentions and deduct house points."

"Very well, fifty points for that Muggleborn slur, Malfoy," Moody said, "Another twenty points for threatening fellow students, thirty points for attempting to cast an Unforgivable and finally, another fifty points for threatening a teacher!"

"Isn't that a bit excessive, Alastor?" McGonagall asked.

"Not really," Moody said, "I hear Snape deducts worse than that from Gryffindors just for breathing too loud in his class. Also, he's getting off lightly for that attempt to cast an unforgivable. He's also getting a month of detention for it. I heard YOU deducted three hundred points from two Gryffindors who were out after curfew a few years ago because they were taking a friend to the hospital wing and never restored them after you found out the truth."

McGonagall quickly shut up and walked away.

 _I know that Moody turning Malfoy into a ferret has been done so many times, but it has to be done._


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

It took all of Harry's resolve to ignore the badges. Then, during the next Potions lesson, there were three of the badges on the wall, all enlarged. Every thirty seconds, the messages changed. Most of the Slytherins spent the lesson laughing at him with Snape making jibes on top.

"Say something about it." Terry Boot said, after the lesson had finished.

"I'm a half-blood – it seems here that purebloods rule the roost." Harry said. It was the lunch break and most of the students were in the Great Hall. Malfoy had a large group with him.

"A chance to win some money. All you have to do is guess how long it will take Potter to die in the first task and the pot is yours." Malfoy said.

As Harry ate his dinner, a blonde hair Slytherin girl walked up to him.

"I'm Daphne Greengrass," she said to him. Harry could see she was not wearing the badge, "You should be careful during the Hogsmeade trip and during the first task. Malfoy was bragging to some of his followers that his father was going to arrange a little something for you."

"Thank you, but how come you don't support him?" Harry said.

"My family, despite being in Slytherin, don't buy into this pureblood rubbish. We're neutral but I decided you should be warned." She answered before leaving.

* * *

That same day, at Sydney, Headmistress Helen Daniels was addressing her staff and students.

"No doubt you will have heard that Harry Potter was entered into the Triwizard Tournament," she said, "the ICW has ruled that he will be representing our school, but it means I will have to participate as a judge. Professor Martin will be in charge in my absence. I promise you, Harry Potter will return. I have it on good authority that he wants to return. If anyone wishes to send him mail, send it to Mrs. Sarah Falk and she will ensure he receives it."

* * *

Harry wrote a letter and sent it off via Hedwig after placing some charms on it. It was to prevent the Ministry looking at it.

Later that day, McGonagall went up to Harry in the Great Hall (it was the evening meal).

"The Headmaster has requested your presence in his office." She said. Harry and the Deputy Headmistress went to Dumbledore's office to find not only the headmaster but the Australian Ambassador.

"Evening Ambassador Ramsey." Harry said, shaking his hand.

"Evening Mr. Potter." The Ambassador said.

"Now everyone is here, can you tell me what this meeting is about?" Dumbledore asked.

"It has something to do with this letter I received today from Mr. Potter. Can you tell the full story please?

Harry explained everything he had seen, heard or been told about Malfoy's gambling syndicate plus what Daphne Greengrass had told him.

"That is very serious Mr. Potter. In light of this, I think you should not go to Hogsmeade." Dumbledore said.

"Are you serious Professor," Harry said in surprise, "The First Task is in Hogsmeade, how am I going to learn about the village for the task if I can't go. It will give the others a very unfair advantage."

"Never the less, it is unsafe for you to go there." Dumbledore said.

"Headmaster, if I may interrupt," the Ambassador said, "Mr. Potter is right – this would give the other contestants an unfair advantage and you were insistent on him participating in this tournament. But, we take our citizens' safety seriously and for the Hogsmeade visits, he will have two Australian Aurors keeping an eye on him and rest assured, we will find out if there is a plot to kill him and will bring down the full weight of the law against them. Mr and Mrs. Falk, who are Mr. Potter's legal guardians, have signed a permission slip for him to visit Hogsmeade and I see no reason why he can't go."

Dumbledore knew he was beaten. "Is there anything else you wish to bring up, Harry?" he asked.

"Yes – the badges created by Draco Malfoy." Harry answered.

"Mr. Malfoy is only exercising his right to an opinion and encouraging fellow students to say the same." Dumbledore answered.

"The main statement on there is wrong for the start – Cedric Diggory is the ONLY Hogwarts champion and you're right, Malfoy is entitled to an opinion. There would be nothing wrong with students wearing badges proclaiming support for Viktor Krum or Fleur Delcaour or myself along with Cedric but the other messages on them is the issue. POTTER STINKS, POTTER IS A CHEAT AND A LIAR and POTTER IS A DEAD MAN. That is NOT an opinion. The first two can be classed as libel and if things like that appeared in your newspaper, I would have full grounds to sue them. The third one can be classed as a death threat, which in Australia is taken VERY seriously," Harry said, "Seeing students wear these is bad enough, but seeing enlarged versions on the walls of Snape's Potions class, flashing the messages, especially the Potter is a Dead Man one frequently is totally unacceptable."

"If you do not have these badges taken away by tomorrow morning Headmaster," the Ambassador said, "I will personally arrange for Mr. Potter to be withdrawn from Hogwarts and be given lessons with either the Beauxbatons or Durmstrang students."

"I'm sure it won't have to come to that." Dumbledore said.

"I have a solution that is fair to everyone," Harry said, "I do not wish to be taught by Severus Snape any longer, so Ambassador, if you could arrange Potions lessons with the Beauxbatons students, please, I would be grateful. Failing that, I have a few friends who can give me a bit of tuition, but most of the potions we're learning about we learnt at Sydney last year."

"I'm sure that will be acceptable, Mr. Potter," Dumbledore said, "The arrangements will be made."

"Excuse me, Headmaster, the arrangements have already been made," Ramsey said, "Before I go, I will inform Madam Maxime that you will be attending Potions lessons with them and someone will come to you with a schedule which will not interfere with other studies. Is there anything else that needs to be dealt with?"

"No, all the other teachers are all fine and act professionally. Thank you for this, Ambassador." Harry said.

As the Ambassador turned to leave, he remembered something. "Before I go, you should be interested to know that Delores Umbridge was sentenced to eighty years in an Australian prison. She got sixty of those years for planning to ambush you, friends and family with Dementors. She also admitted to preparing an arrest warrant for you, for when you used underage magic to defend yourself and there was also a seizure warrant for all the Potter money and properties. She was also convicted of holding that farce of a criminal trial against you. Vernon Dursley and his sister Marge have both been arrested by the Muggle authorities for their abuse of you. Petunia Dursley has been arrested as an accomplice. Despite the fact that she didn't do anything to you, the fact that she allowed it to happen is just as bad as the actual crime. Your cousin Dudley has been placed in a children's home pending a hearing before the youth court and specialist child psychologists. Good day to you."

Ramsey then left followed by Harry. When they were out of earshot of Dumbledore, Ramsey explained that evidence was being gathered against Dumbledore and after the completion of the Triwizard, charges would be filed.

* * *

Dumbledore walked into the Great Hall ten minutes later. He got everyone's attention.

"It is my duty to inform you that the badges proclaiming support for Cedric Diggory which also contain comments about Harry Potter are illegal and can lead to legal action against not only those who created them, but also those who wear them and display the messages, it can also lead to action being taken against the school," He began, "Therefore, ALL badges will be confiscated immediately. To make sure there are none hidden away," he raised his wand, " _Accio_ support badges."

Immediately, all the badges in the school flew onto the staff table. Many were ripped off robes.

"If you wish to proclaim support for a particular champion, then you will be permitted to wear badges claiming support, but each badge will be checked for hidden messages. There will be punishments for those who are in the possession of a badge with a slanderous secret message."

* * *

Harry was called to Professor Flitwick's office after Charms the next day. To his surprise, Headmistress Daniels was there.

"Mr. Potter, it's good to see you. What a stir this is causing back home." She said.

"What are you doing here?" Harry asked.

"Because you are now representing Sydney in the Triwizard, I have to participate as a judge to help ensure fair play. Everyone sends their best wishes and hopes you do well. I am going to negotiate with Dumbledore to allow a few students to attend the events to support you."

"I hope this isn't causing too much trouble back home." Harry said.

"Well, I know that Lassiter's has stopped all trade with English companies which are known to have ties to the magical world. Summer Bay Caravan Park is now refusing admittance to British magicals in protest. The owner is a Muggleborn and has wards on to let her know when a witch or wizard rent a caravan."

"Thank you for everything you're doing for me." Harry said.

* * *

Harry entered the common room to find a crowd around the notice board. He walked to the board after the other students walked away and noticed that there was a Hogsmeade visit for the following weekend. He noticed it was two weeks before the first task.

As soon as he saw Daphne Greengrass, he decided to ask her if she would go to Hogsmeade with him. She accepted. He also asked Luna but she told him she would be looking for Nargles during the trip and it was best done alone.

* * *

The following weekend, Harry and Daphne walked to the gates when they saw Fleur heading there alone. Harry ran up to her.

"Want to come to Hogsmeade with us?" he asked.

"Sure." She said. Harry let Fleur and Daphne put their arms through his and the trio walked into Hogsmeade. He had been warned that his guards were disillusioned and would keep a respectful distance away.

"Where would you like to go first?" Harry asked. Before his dates could answer, a flash of green light headed towards him. He pulled the girls to the ground and the green light flew over him, hitting a building. More green than red lights could be seen. A person walked over to him.

"Mr. Potter – Auror Robinson," the man said, "stay where you are for the moment."

"We have them!" another man said. Three Aurors came with two men. Minister Fudge came out of the Three Broomsticks with Dumbledore. Fudge had heard about the alleged plot and decided to come to Hogsmeade to see what happened.

"That's Lucius Malfoy!" Fudge said.

Lucius Malfoy turned to Fudge, "I was under the Imperius Curse."

"Release him." Fudge said to the Australian Aurors.

"No," Robinson said, "Unlike your administration, we investigate claims of people being put under the Imperius Curse. He was caught firing killing curses at British, French and Australian citizens, who were under our protection and so we will be investigating this ourselves and they will be subject to our laws."

"But I must protest – Mr. Malfoy is a respected member of our community." Fudge said.

"If his story checks out," Robinson said, "he will be released, but in the meantime, he must come with us. Mr. Potter, just in case there are any more people around who wish you harm, there will be another two Aurors stationed here. Enjoy your trip." The four Aurors with their two prisoners then used a Portkey to leave the area.

Dumbledore walked over to Harry. "Mr. Potter, this incident shows how unsafe it is for you to attend Hogsmeade. You must return to school at once."

"As I said Professor, I intend to familiarise myself with the village for the First Task. Some people might say you don't want me to do well in the task. As a Triwizard Judge, you must remain impartial." Harry replied, "Now, if you don't mind, I wish to enjoy my trip."

Over the next couple of hours, the three walked all over Hogsmeade, making note of all the routes back to Hogwarts. They stopped for a drink at the Three Broomsticks before Harry took them to buy a few presents (in Fleur's case – lots of chocolate).

Upon returning to the castle, Harry thanked Daphne for the tip-off.

* * *

 _The Quibbler_ was delivered to Harry, Daphne and Fleur a few days later thanks to Luna Lovegood. It bore the headline:

 **LUCIUS MALFOY SENTENCED TO PRISON**

 _ **By Xenophilius Lovegood**_

 _It has come to our attention that Lucius Malfoy has been sentenced to life in an Australian Wizarding Prison for his attempts to kill the Boy-Who-Lived Harry Potter along with the Heir to House Greengrass and their friend Fleur Delacour of_ _Beauxbatons_ _Academy of Magic._

 _A couple of days ago, during a Hogsmeade visit, two people fired killing curses at these fine people. Luckily, they missed and undercover Australian Aurors caught and arrested Lucius Malfoy and someone later named as Robert Sharp,_ _both Death Eaters who pleaded the Imperius Curse following the end of You-Know-Who's reign of terror._

 _Upon his arrest, Malfoy again protested that he was under the Imperius Curse and Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge urged his release but Australian Auror Matthew Robinson told him that because Malfoy attempted to kill an Australian citizen, they would be taking him in for questioning and to discover the truth over the Imperius Curse claim._

 _During questioning, Malfoy actually attempted to bribe the Aurors into letting him go. Thankfully, the Australian Auror department is free of the corruption the UK Auror department is subject to so he didn't get away with it._

 _Naturally,_ _Malfoy was discovered NOT to have been put under Imperius at all and during questioning under Veritaserum,_ _he confessed to a large number of crimes and named names,_ _especially others who escaped Azkaban by claiming to be under the Imperius Curse._ _Because of his crimes against an Australian citizen, Malfoy was sentenced to life imprisonment in an Australian prison._

 _Cornelius Fudge is campaigning for his release,_ _insistent that his friend would not act unless under the Imperius Curse,_ _even though it's been proven Mr. Malfoy was not under any dark curses. Naturally, all this campaigning is in vain as the Australian government refuse to hand him over._

Luna revealed that the Australians had given the Quibbler the exclusive, not trusting the Prophet not to twist the facts around to make Lucius Malfoy look the victim.

* * *

Hedwig flew into the Great Hall and dropped a letter in front of Harry, who read it.

 _Harry,_

 _Depending on where you start the task, either head for the Shrieking Shack or the cellar in Honeydukes. Both have a secret passage back to Hogwarts. I recommend Honeydukes myself, the passage takes you straight into the castle on the third floor._

 _Sirius_

"That's nice of him to tell you that." Luna said. Harry went to find Fleur, who was at the Beauxbatons carriage.

"Fleur, fancy getting one up on the Hogwarts champion?" he asked.

"Of course." She said.

"I've received some information from my godfather regarding certain secret passages. It appears that two lead from Hogsmeade into Hogwarts. Remember that building we saw on the outskirts of Hogsmeade? (Fleur nodded) It appears there is a passage in there that leads to Hogwarts grounds. A five minute run from there will get you to the Great Hall. I'm also informed that there is one from Honeydukes' cellar to a third floor corridor."

"Thanks for letting me know." Fleur said.


	6. Chapter 6

**I will admit that some characters, locations and companies pay homage to** _ **Neighbours**_ **and** _ **Home and Away**_ **, although I don't watch either these days, I was a viewer during 'HP canon years'.**

 **Chapter Six**

That afternoon, Snape made another series of jibes about Harry in the Entrance Hall in front of over thirty people. It took all his resolve not to say anything, but he need not have said anything.

* * *

The following day, Harry went to the Great Hall following Charms to find people walking out of the castle carrying bags and boxes. He walked over to Ron (despite the interhouse rivalries, which Harry couldn't care less about, he and Ron (and the rest of the Weasleys) were still friends).

"What's going on here?" he asked.

"It seems the Greasy Haired Git has got a lot of outstanding gambling debts which he either refuses to pay or he can't, so everything he owns is being taken away to cover his debts." Ron answered with a laugh.

"Yeah, he owes my Potions teacher from Sydney fifty galleons from their last game." Harry said.

* * *

Later that day, a man walked up to Harry in the Great Hall during the evening meal.

"Mr. Potter?" the man asked. Harry nodded. The man put a tiny box down on the table and enlarged it. "During a confiscation of Severus Snape's belongings, several books and personal possessions of House Potter were found. He could provide no satisfactory explanation as to why they were in his possession and upon consultation with Sirius Black, it was confirmed that they were stolen from your home in Godric's Hollow."

"Thank you." Harry said.

* * *

Harry woke up on the morning of the first task with nerves. He went down to the Great Hall to have something to eat. Cedric Diggory came up to him.

"Good luck today, Potter." He said, "I know you don't know too much about Hogsmeade but here's a clue – remember the route you took to the village from the castle."

"Thanks." Harry said. Then, before he could do anything else, he suddenly felt two heavy weights on his legs. He looked down and saw his three year old twin cousins Isobel and Miranda, who were pleased to see their 'big brother' again. Aunt Sarah was walking down the Great Hall. Like her twin sister, Sarah had red hair with emerald green eyes but she had a bit of weight to her. The twins looked just like her.

"What have I told you about clinging onto my legs, you little buggers?" Harry asked the twins.

"Nothing, big brother." They both said in cute innocent voices.

"What did I tell you would happen if you did it again?" he asked.

"We don't know." They said, trying to sound very innocent (and succeeding). Everyone was watching. Harry managed to prise the twins from his legs and passed Miranda to Luna.

"Hold on to her for a moment please." Harry said.

"This is what happens to you for clinging onto my legs." Harry sat Isobel down on the table and started tickling her. She started laughing and giggling. He then took Miranda from Luna and did the same to her. Everyone watched to see what was causing all the laughing and giggling. After a few minutes, Harry stopped and turned to face Aunt Sarah.

"We thought we'd come and support you in the task. Ms. Daniels had to force Dumbledore to allow some supporters to come." She said. As she was talking, the twins ran back to her carrying chocolate.

"Excuse me you little buggers," Harry said, " _Accio twins_." The twins were summoned back to Harry.

"That is my chocolate, you little ratbags. I think you two need to be tickled again," he said, "Luna, would you like to sort this one out?" he asked Luna.

"I'd love to." Luna said. She started to tickle Miranda while Harry tickled Isobel again. Laughing and giggling could be heard all across the Great Hall. People started to show contempt for Dumbledore for trying to break up a loving family.

"Perfect summoning charm Mr. Potter," Professor Flitwick said, "If you need a good tickling charm, try this one." He walked over to the twins (who were making no attempt to escape) and cast a charm which caused both of them to be tickled at once.

"Thank you Professor." Harry said. Everyone started laughing.

McGonagall looked at Dumbledore with evil in her face.

"I can't believe you want to separate a loving family like that. I warned you that the Dursleys were the wrong sort of people to raise Harry Potter!" she said.

"It's in his best interests, Minvera," Dumbledore said, "He must be kept in the Muggle world when not at Hogwarts until I deem fit to let him into our world full time."

"Albus – why don't you admit it – you've lost," McGonagall said, "Just let him have his childhood. It wouldn't surprise me if you entered him into the Triwizard just to keep him here and to find out what he's learnt. Sarah Falk has raised him well and those girls love him, just look at them."

Dumbledore didn't say anything, although he was not willing to admit defeat.

* * *

Following breakfast, a group of six students from Sydney arrived. In addition to Harry's best friend Toby, there was also Cody, Libby, Michael. There were many hugs and handshakes.

After the meeting, the four champions were taken to a classroom. Mr. Crouch was there.

"For the first task, you will need to take this Portkey. It will take you to the location." He said. The five touched the Portkey and vanished from the classroom.

The four champions appeared in a house in Hogsmeade. Students were gathered in various spots throughout the village. Mr. Crouch stepped forward.

"Your challenge for this first task – get back to the Hogwarts Great Hall. The person who gets there first wins. If you know of any secret passages, then you are allowed to use them. But it will not be easy, we've removed all signposts and shop names, so you will have to use memory and intellect to get back. Also, the Floo network has been disconnected. We will be monitoring you for safety, especially for you, Mr. Potter." Mr. Crouch said, "You may begin."

The four champions left the building and found Mr. Crouch was right, there were no signposts or shop names. Even the shop windows had been blacked out. The four started running in various directions. The obvious building was the Three Broomsticks.

Harry figured that if he could find that, then finding Honeydukes would be child's play. Within two minutes, he had found the pub, then traced the number of buildings until he reached Honeydukes. The shop owners were outside watching. Harry crept past the shop owners into the shop. He then crept down into the basement where he found a trapdoor. Opening it, he went inside.

"Lumos." He said, taking his wand out. A light appeared and he could see the passage. He went through as quickly as he could until he reached a wall. He managed to open the door and ended up in a corridor at Hogwarts, he recognised a statue of a one eyed witch. It was on the way to Charms.

Harry made his way down the corridor when suddenly, he tripped over and fell on the ground.

"Trip Jinx Potter!" Draco Malfoy said, laughing, "I got him, Professor!"

Snape came along. "Ah, how the mighty have fallen. Potter, arrogant like your father. You enter yourself in the Triwizard Tournament and we find you here instead of participating in the task. I think three months of detention and 200 points from Ravenclaw should be ample punishment, but what do we have here?"

Harry's trouser leg had gone up, showing his leg brace.

"Excuse me Professor, but I am participating in the task." Harry began.

"SILENCE! So, you think you can get away with wearing Muggle rubbish." Snape waved his wand and the leg brace vanished. Harry screamed as Draco hit his leg with a curse and he felt his bones break.

"That's for putting my father in prison!" Draco said.

"STUPEFY!" a few voices could be heard. Snape and Draco fell to the ground. Harry looked up and saw Sirius with Daphne Greengrass.

"There you are," Sirius said, "Daphne warned me that those two might be up to something."

"I've got to forfeit this task, Snape vanished my brace and Draco used a bone-breaker hex." Harry said.

"I'll help you." Daphne said. She and Sirius helped Harry up and the two of them hobbled along to the Great Hall.

"I'll deal with these two." Sirius shouted.

Twenty minutes later, Harry and Daphne made it to the Great Hall – Fleur was already there along with Cedric. Five minutes later, Krum walked into the hall.

"The winner is Fleur Delacour! She used a passage from the Shrieking Shack and made it here in thirty minutes. Cedric Diggory had to use the direct route, but saved time by apperating to the Hogwarts gates. Viktor Krum also took the direct route, but had to go all the way. However, Harry Potter used a passage from Honeydukes but is disqualified because he got help from a Hogwarts student." Mr. Crouch said. Dumbledore smiled at the possibilities.

"I protest!" Harry said, "I would have got here sooner had Hogwarts not cheated by having both a staff member and student ambush me!"

"These are serious allegations, Mr. Potter," Mr. Crouch said, "What happened?"

"I got out of the passage from Honeydukes and was on the way back here when Draco Malfoy used a trip jinx on me, then Snape decided to deduct 200 points from Ravenclaw because he decided I had decided not to attend the task, he also gave me three months of detention. He then vanished my leg brace, which I need for medical purposes – that was very expensive, then Draco the Ferret used a bone breaker curse on me, smashing my leg. The reason why Daphne here helped me is because I wouldn't have made it here otherwise!"

The Sydney students started to boo and hiss. Headmistress Daniels walked over to Harry and was seen to extract something from his head. The judges then went to the next room to confer before returning.

"We have made a final decision involving the task. Because Hogwarts staff and students conspired to prevent Mr. Potter from finishing the task, Hogwarts Champion Cedric Diggory has been disqualified from this task, it cannot yet be proven if he was involved."

There were boos from certain Hogwarts students, particularly Hufflepuffs.

"We have established that Mr. Potter would have got here first had it not been for the interference from the people involved. He and Miss. Delacour share first place. Mr. Krum is second."

There was a round of applause from other students. Dumbledore called for silence.

"The next task will take place in January. Our champions will know of the task nearer the time." Mr. Crouch said.

* * *

Ron and the other Weasleys were working on calming down the Gryffindors.

"Yes, it's bad that Cedric got disqualified for Snape and Malfoy's actions, yes, we do want Hogwarts to win this tournament, but do we need to win it by cheating?" Ron shouted.

There were many shouts of no among the crowd.

"Harry is my friend," Ron continued, "he taught me many things he's learnt at Sydney – they teach fourth year spells during their third year, he's helped increase my grades! If people at Hogwarts feel that cheating is the way to go, then I'm going to support Harry and Sydney to win."

The students felt that Ron and the Weasleys had a very good point.

* * *

Hermione Granger entered the hospital wing where Harry was being checked out by Madam Pomfrey (under supervision) and stormed over to him. She had not spoken to him since the first lessons.

"Harry Potter - how dare you accuse a Hogwarts teacher of assaulting you!" she shouted.

"Miss Granger," Harry said, "until you know what you're talking about, butt out."

* * *

Pretty soon, the rumour mill was in overdrive. A couple went into a broom closet on the third floor for a crafty snog and saw Snape and Draco in a compromising position. In reality, Snape found his trousers and underwear had been vanished and Draco was near a certain area. The two were soon nowhere to be seen in the castle. Some people thought they were doing certain things in the Potions classroom or Snape's office while some people claimed they had left the castle to get married – to each other.

"That's disgusting!" Harry said, when Marianne Valentine had told him about the rumours. He was in a magical wheelchair while his leg healed from Draco's curse. Because of the previous problems with his leg, it had to heal Muggle style. Aunt Sarah refused point blank to allow anyone from England to try and use magic to heal it – she didn't trust them not to try and spike medication with Imperious potion or to arrange a foul up on Fudge or Dumbledore's orders in order to keep him in the country. Headmistress Daniels walked up to him.

"I've got to take you to Dumbledore's office." She said. She helped him get to the office to find Dumbledore, Snape, Draco and Ambassador Ramsey waiting. There was also a woman who was identified as Narcissia Malfoy, Draco's mother.

"Now Mr. Potter is here," Ramsey said, "We can proceed with the filing of charges. The two of you have admitted to attempting to sabotage the Sydney champion along with the vanishing of a very expensive medical instrument and the use of a bone breaker curse."

"Excuse me, Ambassador," Harry said, "I want Snape to front the costs of a new leg brace and the Malfoy estate to fund my medical treatment. I also want them out of this school before they harm anyone else."

"Never, Potter!" Snape said.

"Throwing them out of the castle won't achieve anything, Mr. Potter," Dumbledore said, "Severus, Mr. Potter is quite fair in his requests. You did admit to vanishing a piece of medical instrumentation which is helping Mr. Potter, so it's only fair you front the costs of a replacement. He can have you up on serious criminal charges otherwise."

"I can't." Snape said.

"And why is that, Professor Snape?" Ambassador Ramsey asked.

"Because I owe 15,000 galleons in gambling debts. The bailiffs have already taken everything I own, including my family home and that is nowhere near the amount I need to clear them."

"Gentlemen," Narcissia Malfoy said, "I will front the costs of Mr. Potter's medical treatment for my son's actions. I will also buy him a new leg brace. I also ask that I take Draco home with me for a few months and I will ensure he is well and truly punished for his actions. I will also arrange for compensation."

"Does that sound reasonable to you, Mr. Potter?" Dumbledore asked.

"Yes, but as long as she doesn't use violence to punish him." Harry said.

"Oh, I won't use corporal punishment but I do have other punishments in mind. As for your other compensation, DOBBY!" she shouted. A house-elf with bandages appeared.

"Dobby – I am going to free you so you may serve the House of Potter in compensation for actions by my son." Narcissia said, giving him a glove.

"Dobby is free!" the elf said, "Dobby is proud to be free so he can serve the noble Harry Potter!"

"Thank you, I think." Harry said.

"Dobby will help you with all your needs." Dobby said before vanishing.

"Thank you, Lady Malfoy." Harry said.

"This is satisfactory to me," Ramsey said, "But I want further punishment involving Snape."

"Both he and Mr. Malfoy will be suspended from this school for two months." Dumbledore said. Harry was surprised, he was expecting more of a fight from Dumbledore. He didn't realise this at the time, but it was an attempt by Dumbledore to butter Harry up, so he would consent to remain in England after the Triwizard was finished.

After everyone left, Headmistress Daniels turned to Dumbledore.

"After this, I'm tempted to take my student back to Sydney NOW and only bring him back for the next three tasks, but that is very impractical, very expensive and not very good for Harry due to the state of his leg!" she shouted at him, "If Harry wanted to file criminal charges against Snape and Malfoy, I would have supported him. If there is one more illegal infraction against him, I will take him back to Sydney via Muggle transportation, the costs of which YOU will pay for. He will return for each task, and forfeit them before returning home. It may cost my school some much needed glory, but it's worth it to keep my students out of the way of harm by members of your staff and students!"

* * *

Before Aunt Sarah and the twins returned to Australia, they went to visit Molly Weasley.

"Thank you for helping Harry," Aunt Sarah said.

"That's no problem at all," Molly said, cooing over the twins, "Would you two like to make some biscuits with Aunt Molly?" The twins looked at their mother.

"Why not." Aunt Sarah said.

A few hours (and a great deal of mess) later, Molly and the twins had made a large amount of biscuits – they were eating one each and she had boxed a large number for them to take back to Australia with them.

"Sorry about the mess," Aunt Sarah said, "I'll help clean it up before we go."

"Nonsense," Mrs. Weasley said, "It's been a long time since I had toddlers here to have some fun with. You'll have to come by next time you're in the country."

"That's a promise." Aunt Sarah said.

* * *

The repercussions for Snape and Draco's actions were known a couple of days later. All Australian magical companies had ceased trading with English magical companies. The French also did the same. All pureblood visitors to Australia and France from England had their visas cancelled and were expelled from the country with immediate effect. The Sydney Academy and Beauxbatons announced that all exchange trips which involved Hogwarts were now cancelled.


	7. Chapter 7

_To the Neighbours fans, I know the canon dates Jim Robinson and Todd Landers died, but I've changed them along with the location of Erinsborough from Melborne to Sydney for the purpose of this story._

 _I slipped up and replaced Luna with Daphne Greengrass in Ravenclaw but it's been corrected._

Chapter Seven

Three days later, Harry had his new leg brace fitted. Mrs. Malfoy had paid for a top of the line model. She later asked him to have a word with Sirius over dissolving her marriage to Lucius. Harry later wrote to him – Sirius wrote back saying he would meet with her about it.

* * *

"Mr. Potter – can you stay behind for a moment, please?" Professor Flitwick asked after one Charms lesson. After the class emptied, Harry went over to Flitwick. He liked the small Charms Professor. He hadn't said one derogatory word against him.

"Mr. Potter, it is a tradition of the Triwizard Tournament that there be a Yule Ball at Christmas. The champions will have to find themselves dates for they open the ball with a dance." Flitwick said, "Sadly, the Headmaster has ruled that you must invite someone from Hogwarts, no-one from Sydney will be permitted to be on the grounds. I'm sorry, I tried."

"It's not your fault, Professor, but I know someone from Hogwarts I'd invite." Harry said.

"That is good, Mr. Potter," Flitwick said, "I am aware that you don't have dress robes so if there is not a Hogsmeade visit before then, I will take you there myself to get some."

"Thank you sir." Harry said.

* * *

Harry went to find Daphne following the announcement. He found her coming out of a Transfiguration lesson where on the way, he overheard the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw third years discussing who to take. Ginny Weasley was overheard to say she was hoping the Boy-Who-Lived would ask her. Harry found Daphne and took her aside.

"Daphne – would you like to go to the ball with me?" he asked.

She thought about it for a moment before answering. "Yes Harry, I'd love to."

"It's a date." He said.

* * *

Hedwig flew into the Great Hall the following day and dropped a letter in front of Harry. He picked it up and before he could open it, it was snatched out of his hand. Harry turned and saw Dumbledore with it.

"Give that back, Headmaster, you have no authority over my mail." Harry said.

"It's in your best interests that I handle your mail from now on, Mr. Potter," Dumbledore said, before attempting to open it. Then suddenly, he dropped the letter and went flying as it gave him a massive shock.

Harry picked up the letter.

"What happened to him?" a student on the table asked.

"These letters come via the Australian Embassy, where Ambassador Ramsey puts charms on so they can only be opened by me," Harry explained, "If anyone else tried, they would get a massive shock."

"Can you give me the charm, please?" a female student asked, "It'll help me protect my diary."

There were all sorts of requests from students for the charm. Harry promised to see what he could do as he opened it. He read the letter and the colour drained from his face.

"What's wrong, Harry?" Marianne asked. Too shocked to speak, Harry passed it over and his friend read it.

 _Dear Harry,_

 _I heard about your current injuries and hope you're quickly healing._

 _I'm afraid I'm the bearer of bad news. Jim sadly died last week – he had a heart attack and by the time he was found, it was too late to help him._

 _This has been on the ropes for a while – as you know, his health has not been too good since Todd died earlier in the year._

 _I know he was going to take you on as an apprentice after you finished school, but I think he might have arranged something with a friend of his._

Marianne folded the letter up and gave it back to Harry.

"I'm very sorry," she said to him, "Were the two of you close?"

"He was the uncle to my Uncle Alex," he said, "A Muggle. He was an engineer who worked on Muggle cars and stuff, he was going to make me his apprentice after I finished school. He said I showed promise after I was able to take a small engine to pieces then fix it back up, and it still worked."

Dumbledore listened in with interest. Harry was silent for the rest of the day.

* * *

The next day, he was called to Flitwick's office where Ambassador Ramsey and Aunt Sarah were waiting for him.

"Morning, Mr. Potter," Ramsey said, "You no doubt know of the death of Jim Robinson?" He didn't know the contents of Harry's mail, only that they were free from Portkeys or curses after being checked.

Harry nodded and the Ambassador continued, "His will was read yesterday. The majority of his estate was left to his children and grandchildren but there were a few bequests for other people. You were left two bequests – 25% of his shares in his engineering company and his house at 26 Ramsey Street, Erinsborough, Sydney, both to be left in trust until you turn 18. As for your apprenticeship, he has arranged for his close family friend Mr. Doug Willis to take you on. His speciality is construction but he knows a thing or two about engineering and is prepared to take you on."

"Thank you," Harry said.

"As your legal guardian," Aunt Sarah said, "I signed the papers on your behalf."

* * *

There was another letter for Harry a week later. Hedwig dropped it in front of Harry during the evening meal who picked it up. Dumbledore tried to take it again, but received another shock. Harry decided to inform Ramsey so new charges could be filed. McGonagall tutted at the staff table.

He opened the letter and a small photograph dropped out. He smiled for the first time in days. Marianne picked up the photograph and looked at it – it was a photo of a newborn baby girl.

"Ahhh, she's cute – who is she?" Marianne asked.

Reading the letter, Harry answered. "It's the daughter of my friend Phoebe – she was the girlfriend of my 'cousin' Todd who died earlier in the year. She wants me to be godfather. Hope Bright Landers was born two days ago."

He wrote a quick letter back to Phoebe and gave it to Hedwig, so it could be taken to the embassy so it could be delivered to Australia. While Harry wrote the letter, the photo was doing the rounds of the Ravenclaw table.

"Dobby!" Harry said. The house-elf appeared and Harry asked for eight glasses of butterbeer, which the elf delivered very quickly. Harry and his friends (and Dobby) took a glass each and raised them in a toast.

* * *

It was now a month since the first task. Harry went for a check-up with Madam Pomfrey, the Hogwarts matron under the supervision of Headmistress Daniels. She was there to make sure that the Hogwarts matron didn't try anything under Dumbledore's orders. The two helped Harry up and he walked a couple of steps.

"That looks fine, Mr. Potter," Madam Pomfrey said, "Just don't overdo things and your leg should continue to heal nicely."

"Thank you." Harry said.

* * *

On his return to the Ravenclaw Common Room, he noticed Cho Chang (who he knew was Cedric Diggory's girlfriend) carrying a familiar pair of shoes. He raised his wand and summoned them. Looking at them, he recognised them as being Luna's.

"Excuse me, Chang," Harry said, getting Cho's attention, "What do you think you're doing with these?"

"Why does it matter, they only belong to Looney..." she began but didn't get to finish it as Harry put a silencing charm on her.

"Listen here," Harry said to the gathering crowd, "All this bullying against Luna stops today. You will return everything you've stolen from her otherwise Professor Flitwick will hear about it."

"Why do you care?" One student asked, "You don't even want to be here."

"That maybe the case, but Luna is a very good friend of mine and I don't tolerate bullies, no matter what school I'm at." Harry said, "So, you have a choice – return her stuff and I won't say a thing or I will take things up with Professor Flitwick or I will take matters into my own hands."

By curfew, everything that had been taken from Luna had been returned.

* * *

A Hogsmeade visit was planned for December 15th, a few days before the Christmas holidays started. Harry decided to take Daphne with him again (Fleur was seeing some family members). The first stop was a shop to buy some dress robes. After looking through the entire shop, Harry finally settled on black robes with green lining. Daphne said it brought out the colour of his eyes.

After looking through the rest of the shops, Harry and Daphne walked into the Three Broomsticks and heard a voice. They turned to where the voice was and saw Aunt Sarah with the twins Isobel and Miranda. The two girls flung themselves at their 'big brother' and clung to his legs again. With difficulty, Harry walked to Aunt Sarah and hugged her.

"We thought we'd come here for Christmas," she said, "Sirius, not showing any bad feelings over losing that custody case, is letting us stay at his family home. Uncle Alex will be coming over in a few days time. You're staying with us over Christmas, although you have to return for the Yule Ball."

"I bet Dumbledore loved that," Harry said, "He'd probably keep me locked at Hogwarts if he could get away with it."

"Actually, Dumbledore knows nothing about these plans. Professor Daniels and Flitwick have approved these holiday plans." She said. She turned to Daphne, "It's nice to see you again. I hope you're keeping Harry in line."

Harry went red at that comment. "Harry is a delightful friend," Daphne said.

* * *

The day before the Christmas holidays, Sirius went to the Burrow to collect Mr. & Mrs. Weasley and take them to Gringotts. They were taken to a vault with a familiar sounding number where a goblin opened it. It was filled with gold and heirlooms.

"What's this?" Molly Weasley asked.

"Malfoy confessed to the Australians that he framed your brothers which led to the Prewett vaults being confiscated. When presented with evidence of mass fraud, the goblins went over the Ministry and took it all from Malfoy's vaults and returned it to you." Sirius answered.

The Weasleys didn't know what to say.

* * *

As Harry prepared to take the Hogwarts Express to spend Christmas with the family at Sirius' family home in London, he was surprised at the small number of people going home. It was mainly first and second years who couldn't get a date for the Yule Ball or the upper years who weren't bothering with the ball that were going home to study for their OWL or NEWTs.

Aunt Sarah greeted him on the platform with Sirius and the twins. Before Harry could do anything, the twins were on his legs again.

"Looks like they've got you wrapped around their little fingers," Sirius said with a laugh.

Harry walked over to Daphne who was meeting her father.

"Hello Mr. Greengrass." Harry said to her father, shaking his hand.

"Mr. Potter – it's good to see you," Mr. Greengrass said, "Daphne's told me all about you."

Sirius had walked over. "How would you and your family like to have Christmas dinner at my house on Christmas Eve?" he asked.

"We would be delighted to accept, thank you." Mr. Greengrass said.

* * *

Sirius had also invited the Weasleys along for Christmas dinner. Fred and George Weasley took Harry aside before dinner started.

"Bit of Christmas cheer for you," Fred said, passing over a piece of parchment. Harry looked at it, wondering what sort of joke the Weasley twins were playing on him – he knew of their reputation as pranksters.

"What do I need with a piece of old parchment?" Harry asked.

"Show him, George." Fred said.

George put his wand to the parchment and said: "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

Writing appeared on the parchment. Harry read it out: " _Messers Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs are proud to present,_ _The Marauders' Map._ " He opened it up and it was a map of Hogwarts. Looking at it, he saw Dumbledore walking through a corridor, Professor Flitwick in his office and McGonagall apparently catching a couple in a broom closet.

"We felt that your need was greater than ours," Fred said, "We nicked it from Fitch's office in our first year."

"How did you learn how to activate it?" Harry said, "I'm sure it didn't come with a book entitled _The Marauders Map for Dummies._ "

Fred and George were silent for a moment. "This will be a help for any rule breaking you have in mind before leaving Hogwarts." Fred said. Harry looked at the map for a moment. He had to admit, whoever Moony, Padfoot, Wormtail and Prongs were, they had to be very clever to make something like this. Then he remembered something. Sirius had mentioned someone called Wormtail in the summer. He was the one who framed Sirius and had him locked up for five years.

Harry went into the kitchen still looking at the map. Sirius was at the table with Aunt Sarah. He seemed to recognise the map as Harry sat down.

"Where did you get that from?" Sirius asked.

"Fred and George just gave it to me. This has to be some remarkable piece of magic. You mentioned Wormtail in the summer but who are Moony, Padfoot and Prongs?" Harry asked.

"I've got a few things to tell you, I'm Padfoot and your father James was Prongs," Sirius said, "In our time at Hogwarts, we were just as bad as the Weasley twins. But unlike those two, the two of us with Wormtail were unregistered animagus. We could go all over the school and with our knowledge, we created the map."

"Who is Moody?" Harry said but then realised he hit a sore spot.

"What do you know of the circumstances surrounding your parents' deaths?" Sirius asked.

"Not a thing." Harry answered.

Sirius looked to see if Isobel and Miranda were in the room and asked Aunt Sarah if she minded him telling him.

"He's old enough to know the truth." Aunt Sarah said. She made sure Miranda and Isobel were not in the room.

"During Voldemort's reign of terror, your parents fought him three times and lived to tell the tale. It finally got to the point where Voldemort decided to kill them and you once and for all. You, James and Lily went into hiding under the Fidelius Charm – it enables a secret to be hidden inside someone which can only be given willingly. They were going to make me their secret keeper but in the end, they went for Wormtail, but the story went about that I was secret keeper. However, Wormtail betrayed your family to Voldemort whose body was destroyed when he tried to kill you. Moony was a friend of ours from school called Remus Lupin."

"I remember him," Aunt Sarah said, "He got the Prefect badge at the same time as Lily got hers."

"Dumbledore felt he would be able to keep control of his best friends with it – I need hardly say he failed. Remus had a secret – he was a werewolf. Dumbledore knew of it and had him taken to the Shrieking Shack for his transformation. We became animagi to help him through those terrible times. Last year, he was the Defence teacher – the staff knew his secret but the students didn't. At the end of the year, Snape leaked his secret. Days later, Remus was arrested and given a choice – Azkaban or exile. The crime was endangering the students, especially purebloods. Lucius Malfoy sponsored the charges. He chose exile and went to America."

"That's barbaric!" Harry said.

"Delores Umbridge drafted many laws which affects people like Remus," Sirius said.

"It's reasons like that I left England." Aunt Sarah added, "The future didn't look bright for Muggle-borns so I left for Australia. I begged Lily to come with me, but she had just married your father and refused to come. Therefore, I left."

"It doesn't matter – as soon as the Triwizard is done, I'm going back to Australia." Harry said, "Thank you for telling me. I had an idea of how bad things were here from how Fudge tried to order Lucius Malfoy's release when he claimed to be under the Imperius curse."

* * *

Harry woke up the following morning to find two lumps fast asleep on his bed. Somehow, Isobel and Miranda managed to get out of their beds, then out of their room and into Harry's room. It was one Sirius had set up at his family home in the event Harry was found. He told Harry when they arrived that the room would be his whenever he visited England (although Harry didn't have the heart to tell him that he planned to keep future visits to England to an absolute minimum thanks to the way he had been treated).

"What are you two rug rats doing on my bed?" Harry asked the twins.

"We couldn't sleep." Miranda said.

* * *

An hour later, the family were in the living room to open presents. The twins had gotten some knitted dolls and to Aunt Sarah's surprise, Weasley jumpers knitted by Molly Weasley. They were red with their name knitted on the front in gold lettering. Sirius had brought them toy brooms and Snitches.

"Put it this way," he said to Aunt Sarah, who was glaring at him, "If Harry's leg doesn't heal and he can't play Quidditch anymore, we need to raise the next generation of seekers."

Aunt Sarah didn't need to worry – the twins were more interested in their new dolls than flying on the brooms.

Harry also got a Weasley jumper but it also came with a box of mince pies. He checked them and they were clean of any potions (not that he didn't trust Molly Weasley, he just didn't trust Dumbledore not to try to intercept them before their arrival). Sirius gave him a penknife which he explained would open most magical locks. Dobby the house elf had given him a pair of socks which he had knitted himself. Harry had to admit they were quite good.

* * *

Two hours before the Yule Ball was due to start, Harry used the floo to return to Hogwarts, via Flitwick's office. He went to his dorm in Ravenclaw to change then went to the Entrance Hall where he was due to meet Daphne. He didn't need to wait long, as she walked up the stairs from the dungeons a few minutes after him. She had on a dress of various shades of purple, which didn't show much figure (not that Harry cared about it).

The doors opened and the champions walked into the Great Hall with their dates to massive applause. The hall and all the tables looked like they had been made of ice. The eight people walked to the middle of the hall where Harry could see Professor Flitwick conduct the Hogwarts band where a slow tune started playing. Harry took Daphne and began to dance, recognising the song. As the song progressed, Sirius (who was there to look after Harry's interests) took McGonagall's hand and led her onto the dance floor. Hagrid did the same with Madam Maxime then Neville Longbottom did the same with Ginny Weasley (who, in the end conceded defeat and accepted Neville's invitation - either that or have to go home for the whole holidays).

(Harry later told Daphne that he made a donation to the Hogwarts band provided his song – _Waltz for the Moon_ was played first).

Harry noticed Ron was dancing with Lavender Brown, who he was told was in Gryffindor. Fleur came over to Harry and Daphne and dragged him out for a dance. He did share a dance with Ginny Weasley at one point. Harry checked all his food and drink, not trusting Dumbledore. Hermione Granger glared at Harry a lot - she had gone to the ball with Viktor Krum.

She intercepted Harry when he was getting drinks.

"Harry Potter - didn't your parent's sacrifice mean anything to you?" she demanded.

"I don't know what you mean Miss. Granger." Harry said.

"Dating the Ice Queen - she's in Slytherin! Your parents did not die so you could date Slytherins! They were Gryffindors!" she shouted, making a fool of herself.

"Miss Granger," Harry said, "get your facts straight. My parents were betrayed by Peter Pettigrew who was in GRYFFINDOR! Secondly, it is none of your business what they sacrificed themselves for. The Greengrass family have been Potter allies for centuries. I'd think they would like me to go to the ball with anyone I'd like, not people that you and your precious Albus Dumbledore chose for me."

"The Headmaster knows best," Hermione said, "let him pick a nice wife for you. He is your legal guardian. You should also let him handle your mail."

"Miss Granger," Harry interrupted, "Dumbledore is not my guardian, Sarah Falk is - she is my mother's sister..."

"She's an imposter," Hermione counter interrupted, "Lily Potter only had one sister. You should be with her."

"Hermione Granger," Harry said, finally having enough, "until you get your facts straight, leave me alone. Sarah Falk was my mother's twin sister and was named in her will as guardian if anything happened to her. Petunia Dursley is a registered magic hater and was specifically down as someone not to get custody of me. I will choose my future wife, not you, not Dumbledore. Why don't you stop bootlicking authority figures and take a careful look at things."

The night finished with another slow dance. Towards the end of it, Harry and Daphne shared their first kiss.

Harry took her aside after the dance had finished. "Will you be my girlfriend?" he asked her.

"I'd love to, Harry." Daphne said. They shared another kiss before Sirius took them both away (Daphne to her own home and Harry back to the Black home).

* * *

The following day, the _Daily Prophet_ was delivered with some disturbing news:

BOY WHO LIVED HAS ALREADY BETROTHED GIRL AS GIRLFRIEND

 _By Rita Skeeter_

 _As the readers of this paper know, Boy Who Lived Harry Potter was found last summer while viewing the Quidditch World Cup and we found out that he was living in Australia illegally._

 _Yesterday was the Hogwarts Yule Ball, as part of the Triwizard Tournament. He took Daphne Greengrass with him, the two already being good friends. Miss. Greengrass is the step-daughter of Magnus Greengrass, owner of Florish and Botts._

 _At the end of the dance, Mr. Potter took her to one side and asked Miss. Greengrass if she would be his girlfriend and she accepted. What people don't know is that Miss. Greengrass is betrothed to Draco Malfoy. Potter already knew about it._

"How did she find out about that?" Harry asked. He was looking at the article in the kitchen of the Black home. "I took Daphne to one side and we didn't say anything loud enough to be heard. She said nothing about being betrothed to Ferret Face."

"There's more." Sirius said.

 _On behalf of England's citizens, I urge Minister Fudge and Albus Dumbledore to put an end to this relationship and find Mr. Potter a girlfriend who is not betrothed._

"I don't believe this rubbish." Harry said, throwing the paper into the nearby fire.

"Don't worry, Harry," Sirius said, "You're an Australian citizen and neither Fudge or Dumbledore have the legal right to split you up."

Mr. Greengrass arrived later that day and swore an oath that Daphne was not betrothed to Draco Malfoy or anyone else.


	8. Chapter 8

**CHAPTER EIGHT**

Two days after Hogwarts started again after the Christmas holidays, everyone knew Harry was with Daphne and that he had adopted Luna into his house. Cho Chang walked to one student who was stealing some stuff from Luna's trunk.

"Put those things back – since Loony is part of House Potter, he'll make our lives unbearable if he catches anyone stealing from her." She said. The thief put the items back as quickly as possible. What the two didn't know was that there was a charm on the trunk which allowed Harry to know that someone was interfering with the contents of it.

* * *

Snape and Malfoy had been released from their suspensions on the same day and were back at Hogwarts.

"Hey, Potter – I hear you're dating Greengrass," Malfoy said, "She was promised to me by Professor Snape."

Harry ignored the jibes until Malfoy sunk to a low.

"Or is she going to be a practice girlfriend who will spread her legs for you so you can be a good husband to a proper pureblood witch who is more worthy of the heir to the House of Potter." Malfoy said, "Or, if you insist on sticking with her, we'll break her in for you."

To Harry, Malfoy had gone too far with those remarks. He turned around and cast a spell on Malfoy. He had intended on turning him into a ferret like Mad Eye Moody did but couldn't achieve a full transformation. Satisfied, he walked away.

* * *

That was not the end of it. Harry was taken to Dumbledore's office later that day. Snape and Draco were there with Headmistress Daniels. Draco had been turned back to normal.

"Albus – I want that brat arrested, he assaulted my ward!" Snape shouted. Sirius had told Harry that Narcissia had disowned Draco and palmed him off to Snape before she became a Black again and left the country.

"Now, now Severus," Dumbledore said, "I'm sure there is an explanation to this."

"Draco here made several sexually explicit and derogatory remarks about my girlfriend, which included an offer of passing her around the Slytherin common room. That in my book is out of order." Harry said.

"That's a lie!" Draco said.

"Want to put that to the test under veritaserum?" Harry asked, "I had heard rumours of girls being passed around Slytherin but I refused to believe them until now. Headmaster, how can you expect Slytherin House to behave if Snape here allows such activities to take place?"

"I will have the matter dealt with, Mr. Potter," Dumbledore said, "In the meantime, you will have to be punished – two weeks of detention with Mr. Fitch and your mail privileges are revoked until further notice."

"It was worth it – I only wish I could have completed the transformation." Harry said, "Also, you have no power to stop me sending or receiving mail."

"I am the Headmaster and I say mail is a privilege which can be stopped at any time." Dumbledore said.

"If I may, Headmaster," Daniels cut in, "Harry is not your student, but mine. You cannot stop him receiving mail. Mr. Malfoy made remarks which would be considered inappropriate and classed as sexual harassment in my school. Mr. Potter was defending his girlfriend's honour. The detention is adequate punishment although I am dismayed at the fact it was an incomplete transfiguration."

"It was a complex one Headmistress." Harry said.

* * *

Ginny, still having a serious crush on Harry, was jealous of Daphne warned her to keep away from Harry or suffer the consequences. People admired her for standing up to the Ice Queen.

Harry crept into the Great Hall during the night. The following morning, he was standing next to his usual spot on the Ravenclaw table holding an umbrella. Daphne came up to him.

"Morning, Harry," she said to him.

He started checking his watch as everyone came in. As Dumbledore came in and sat down, Harry put up the umbrella. Everyone wondered what was going on and then moments later, it started to rain on everyone.

"You know, Daph, I do happen have room under this here umbrella which I happen to have on my person." Harry said. Daphne got under it. The two watched as everyone got soaking wet. Some strange substance was leaking off Snape in vast quantities. Draco, who had just taken a drink, turned into a woman. Harry had arranged for Dobby to spike his drink with potion, knowing that spoilt little Draco had his own jug of pumpkin juice.

Harry was thinking: _Revenge is very sweet_. It was a pity certain people had to get wet, but he couldn't predict where these people were going to sit. Snape looked like he would force-feed poison to Harry if he could. The two walked out of the hall to go to the Beauxbatons group so Harry could have a Potions lesson. Snape was shouting all sorts of profanities regarding Harry. Fred and George Weasley were having a good laugh.

"Good prank," Fred said later that day, "Surprised we never thought of that."

"Well, Fred, my friend," Harry said, "Bully Luna or threaten Daphne and that is what will happen."

"We'll keep Ginny in line, mate," George said, "but we won't bully her and there are a few other people we can vouch for."

* * *

Charms was later that day and they were practicing the Banishing Charm. Flitwick took Harry aside after seeing him excel at the Charm.

"I notice you do some very good charm work, Mr. Potter," Flitwick said, "You take after your mother, she was good at charms. Your Aunt Sarah was also good, but not as good as Lily."

"Thank you, sir," Harry said, "What were my parents like? Besides Aunt Sarah, no-one seems to want to say anything."

"Dumbledore felt information about your family should be kept secret to spare your feelings," Flitwick said, "But I think differently. James was just as talented as your mother. But his real skill was in Transfiguration – I've seen him transfigure items or conjure things that would put Minerva to shame. He lived for your mother and she was the only one who could keep him in line, despite one of his best friends being a prefect. If they had survived, I would have nominated your mother to succeed me when I retired and I'm sure Minerva, although it would pain her to think of James Potter as a teacher - would have done the same about your father.

"Now, tell me about that charm you performed on the Great Hall ceiling?" Flitwick asked.

"How did you know that was me?" Harry asked back.

"That prank had James Potter written all over it. He did the same thing when some Slytherins made some very offensive remarks about your mother. Also, Fred and George Weasley - who it seems only pay attention in my class - wouldn't think of something like that." Flitwick answered.

"I added some charms which linked the ceiling to most of the bathrooms in the castle. A time charm was also used to activate the charms, hence I knew when to use the umbrella." Harry replied.

"A very good piece of charm work, I must admit I found it funny to see all that grease slide down Professor Snape," Flitwick said, "There is one more thing I want to talk to you about."

"What's that?"

"Luna Lovegood," Flitwick said, "Cho Chang came to me and confessed to the way she and all the Ravenclaws bullied her since she started at school. I had no idea what was going on otherwise I would have put a stop to it. She also told me how you put a stop to it through non-violent means and I want to say you did a good thing there. I have since found out that even Prefects were behind it and so I stripped them of their badges. Ravenclaw won't have any prefects until next year if they behave themselves."

* * *

February 1st was Luna's 14th birthday. Hedwig delivered a small box to her.

A week later, Harry walked up to the Owlery. He tied a small package to Hedwig's leg.

"Take this to the embassy, dear girl," he said, "And they'll send it to Australia."

She hooted and flew out of the tower. Before Harry could leave, Dumbledore and Flitch entered.

"I got a tip-off, Headmaster," Filtch said, "That this boy was sending off for a large list of forbidden products."

"Mr. Potter – I must ask you to hand over what you plan to send."

"I've already sent it," Harry said, "and it is none of your business what I send. Now mind your own business otherwise I'll be pressing charges."

With that, Harry left the tower.

* * *

It was a couple of days before the second task. Aunt Sarah and the twins had come to show support for Harry during the task. They went to the Burrow first where Molly Weasley looked pleased to see the twins.

"Would you two like to bake some cookies with me?" she asked them.

"Yes please, Mrs. Weasley." They said in their cute irresistible voices.

"You can call me Grandma Molly." She told them.

"Thank you." They said.

Like their last visit, a lot of mess and giggling happened while they did their baking. In the end, there was a nice pile of cookies, some of which had various bite marks on and some even had bits bitten off.

"I don't think the people who come up with these ideas take sampling into account." Aunt Sarah said.

* * *

Soon, it was the day of the second task. Aunt Sarah and the twins came to the school with some students from Sydney had come to show support. The twins made people laugh by carrying Luna dolls. Harry had made them for their fourth birthday with Luna's blessing. This time, they clung onto Luna's legs, forcing Harry to use Flitwick's tickling charm.


	9. Chapter 9

_I was inspired by the flying parts in the early Harry Potter computer games for this task but with elements of my own. Oh, the flying sequences on the Nintendo Gamecube version of The Chamber of Secrets were beautiful, rivalling the space scenes in Star Wars: Rogue Squadron 2 on the same machine._

 **Chapter Nine**

Ambassador Ramsey arrived ten minutes before the task was due to start and took Harry aside to tell him about what happened to Rita and the Prophet.

"I know what Rita wrote was cruel but isn't fifty years a bit excessive for libel?" asked Harry.

"If the crime was just libel, then I would agree with you. But she admitted to stealing letters sent by you, which was ruled by the ICW to be espionage. She also admitted to trying to find out your home address and to being an illegal animagus, which she used to spy on meetings regarding you and to find out where you lived. She even met up with the Dursleys who were only too happy to spill as much dirt about you as possible. Transcripts between her and them were found in her home and I managed to have them confiscated and destroyed."

"Thank you," Harry said.

"You're welcome Mr. Potter," Ramsey said, "Now go and win the task."

* * *

The four champions had been told to report to the Hogwarts entrance with their broomsticks. Mr. Crouch met up with them at the entrance.

"This is the second task," he said, "You have to fly through those magical hoops in order to get to the finish. However, you will have to go through every hoop to qualify. In addition, you will have to collect flags of your individual colour – Mr. Potter, you collect red, Mr. Diggory – blue for you, Miss. Delacour – yellow and Mr. Krum – orange."

The champions acknowledged what Mr. Crouch had told them.

"Also, you will be presented with targets you must hit with a spell – points will be greater the closer to the bull's-eye you hit. For your final result to count, you must fly through all the hoops, collect all the flags and shoot all the targets."

He turned to Harry. "Mr. Potter, due to the problems with your leg, you can forfeit if you wish."

"Nonsense," Professor Moody said, walking up. He was carrying a broom, "He can use this broom if he wants."

Moody put the broom down and it started floating. It looked like you rode it like a Muggle motorbike.

"There's nothing in the rules against it." Mr. Crouch said. He knew Mad Eye Moody had a prosthetic leg which made it difficult for him to ride a normal broom.

Cedric, Fleur and Krum got onto their brooms while Moody helped Harry onto the borrowed broom.

"GO!" Mr. Crouch said.

The four brooms started flying. Krum was in the lead and Harry was close behind him. Quickly, he flew through the hoops and began to catch up with Krum. As they approached Hagrid's hut, he noticed the first group of flags. Krum had slowed down to collect but Harry had a plan. He raised his wand at them and cast:

" _Accio red flag._ "

The flag flew into his hand and he put it into a bag, flying past Krum, who looked astonished. Fleur and Cedric had seen Harry and cast the same spell.

Harry continued through the hoops and followed the route into the Forbidden Forest. Two targets were ahead. He raised his wand and cast a paintball charm at one, then the other. He was going too fast to see how well he had hit the targets. The next group of flags were approaching so he summoned his flag.

As Harry continued flying, he wondered if he would see Draco or Snape during the task. What he didn't know was that they were in an empty classroom being guarded by a dozen Australian Aurors. Their wands had been confiscated and were in the possession of Ambassador Ramsey. Harry approached a hill which led out of the forest. He flew up it, continuing to fly through the hoops.

As he fired at another target, an animal came up to him and breathed fire. Harry made a sharp turn left. He wasn't to know it was a Blast Ended Skrewt, bred by Hagrid - he wasn't taking Hagrid's classes . The distraction gave the others a chance to overtake him. Harry resumed his course and followed them.

The course took them down to the Black Lake, where they practically skimmed it. There were several targets on the lake, but they were moving. Cedric took the lead as the final flags were collected. Then suddenly, Krum flew next to him and pushed the Hogwarts champion off his broom and into the lake. Determined to deal with Krum's cheating, Harry summoned his rival champion's broom and Krum also ended up in the lake. Fleur took advantage of this in order to take the lead and moments later, she crossed the finish line. Harry crossed it minutes later.

Moody helped Harry off the broom while some people went to rescue Cedric and Krum. Ten minutes later, everyone was in the Great Hall to hear the scores.

"The winner of this task is Fleur Delacour. She collected all the flags, flew through the hoops and made it back first. Her score from the targets is 89. Her overall score is 124. In second place, is Harry Potter. He also collected all the flags, although he came up with the idea of summoning the flags. He too flew through the hoops and hit the targets. His score from them is 93. His overall score is 120. In third place is Cedric Diggory. He too collected all the flags, flew through the hoops. His score from the targets is 100. However, he didn't finish the task. Finally, Viktor Krum is disqualified from this task for his attempt to cheat his way to the finish. Mr Potter is also to be awarded a special commendation for original thinking with his idea to summon the flags."

There was a mixture of boos and cheers as each score was announced. Dumbledore called for silence.

"The next task will be on March 3rd." Mr. Crouch said.

Dumbledore went to Ambassador Ramsey, who had come to observe.

"I take it now that my Potions professor and student will now be released? He asked.

"Yes, Snape and Malfoy will be released." Ramsey said, "When Mrs. Falk and her children return for the third task, they will be accompanied by Australian Aurors."

* * *

Draco Malfoy turned up for dinner that evening all battered and bruised. The story was put about that he had tried to assault a Muggleborn Sydney student. Friends caught him and beat him up Muggle style. He was very vocal in his demands that they be arrested and charged with assaulting a pureblood, not realising that half his attackers were Australian purebloods. Ambassador Ramsey refused to acknowledge the demands of the spoilt boy.

There were visitors to the school a few days later. The Sydney student's parents had filed criminal complaints.

The first thing to be investigated was the allegation that Slytherin girls were passed around the common room. After questioning everyone, it was proven to be false allegations spread about by members of Gryffindor in order to cause trouble. The student in question was suspended for passing false serious allegations and also received a heavy points reduction for his house. The only sexual activity which occurred was consensual activity between students age 16 or above and only then in a dorm room – there was nothing illegal about it and while it was frowned upon, there was nothing the staff could do about it.

Snape was another matter. The investigation showed that he showed extreme bias towards Slytherin during lessons and Dumbledore was ordered to remove him as Head of Slytherin. It was too late to sack him as Potions teacher, so he was kept on but on condition someone was there to observe. Even Slytherins complained about his conduct. He was also banned from deducting House Points along with issuing detentions without consulting the offenders Head of House and was ordered to stop showing favouritism towards Draco. It was made clear that at the end of term, he would be fired for severe professional misconduct and if enough evidence could be gathered, he would be facing charges for child endangerment.

It was discovered that during the four years Draco Malfoy was at Hogwarts, he received no punishments from Snape and that Snape had either overruled any points deducted or given points to make up for it and that he gave Draco permission to skip any detentions imposed by other teachers. In the past, Lucius Malfoy would blackmail the fellow school governors into overriding suspension or expulsion. The Australian student's parents wanted to file charges against him but Fudge prevented it from happening because under UK law, Muggles or Muggle-borns can't press charges against Purebloods. Ambassador Ramsey heard about it through Amelia Bones and promised to make a major case about it, even if he had to have the ICW extradite Draco to Australia to face charges. They had the power to override Fudge.

Dumbledore won a temporary reprieve because they were two tasks into the Triwizard Tournament and to remove him now would cause all sorts of problems. He was warned that various charges awaited him following the Triwizard. He was seriously reprimanded when it was revealed that he fuelled and encouraged interhouse rivalries by awarding last minute points to Gryffindor a couple of times when it was clear Slytherin had won the house cup. He was told that he shouldn't remove or award house points unless there was good cause and something he witnessed.

He was also given a restraining order, forbidding him from approaching, speaking or sending anything to Harry unless it was to do with the Triwizard.

To the surprise of some people, Harry made friends with a few more students from Slytherin following his bringing Snape and Draco down a notch.

* * *

After another Transfiguration lesson in which Neville Longbottom somehow transplanted his tongue in Ron Weasley's ear (ewwwww! The entire class said and even McGonagall had to agree) and his ears on a certain private area on Hermione Granger. All three were excused lessons to be put back to normal. That evening, Harry took the young Longbottom aside and agreed to help him.

"Your wand looks a bit used." He said to Neville during the first tutoring session.

"It's my father's," Neville said, "My grandmother wants me to be like him. After You-Know-Who was vanquished, he and my mother were subject to a lengthy session with the Cruciatus curse and it left them insane. The Lestrange trio were sentenced to Azkaban for it after managing to bribe their way to freedom just before, claiming they were under the Imperious curse."

"Doesn't your grandmother care what YOU want to do?" Harry asked.

"No," Neville replied, "she wants me to become an Auror like my father."

"What do YOU want to do?" Harry asked.

"Either something to do with plants or replace Professor Sprout when she retires." Neville said.

"Tell you what Neville," Harry said, "I know that the Herbology teacher at Sydney wants to retire soon. If I can persuade her to hold on three years, I can put in a good word with you with Professor Daniels." Neville thanked him for the offer.

That evening, Harry wrote to Neville's grandmother to respectfully tell her to let Neville choose his own future, instead of having one planned for him. He also said to her that using his father's wand was causing all sorts of trouble and it was best to get him one of his own.

That weekend, Neville was taken out of school and came back with a new wand. Harry took him aside and helped him master it. The spells came out better than with the old wand.

"You're getting there mate," Harry said, "Your main problem is lack of confidence. Just don't let McGonagall or the others intimidate you. May not be so easy with Snape, but he intimidates everyone."

* * *

As time went on, things were quieter. Harry felt it strange that Draco or Snape weren't doing anything. He wasn't to know that the two were under a magical restraining order, which prevented them from approaching him unless it was an instance that couldn't be avoided. Hermione Granger was also keeping her distance.

Towards the end of Feburary, Professor Flitwick walked over to Harry in the Great Hall.

"You need to report to the Quidditch pitch this evening." He said.

That evening, Harry joined Cedric Diggory and the two went to the Quidditch pitch to find huge hedges. Two Australian Aurors joined them, providing security for Harry. Mr. Crouch was there.

"This is the third task," he said, "The objective is to make it through to the centre of the maze and find the treasure that is hidden within."

"Sounds too easy." Krum said.

"It will not be easy. There will be a number of traps and puzzles. Rubeus Hagrid is also providing some magical creatures to get through. There will be a treasure for each champion, it provides a clue for the final task. The first one to collect their treasure will win the task. The hedges will be charmed so no-one can fly over them or burn their way through."

"Sounds challenging." Harry said. He had a plan.

* * *

The next day, Harry went into an empty classroom and called Dobby.

"What can Dobby for Harry Potter?" he asked.

"Just call me Harry, alright?" Harry asked, "You know of the maze which is being used for the third task?"

"Yes, Dobby see it grow." The elf said.

"Can you go through the maze and make a map please?" Harry asked.

"Dobby always happy to help Harry Potter." He said.

"Thank you." Harry said. The elf vanished. Harry took his mirror out of his pocket.

"Padfoot." He said. Sirius' face appeared on the mirror.

"Harry," he said, "What can I do for you?"

Harry explained the plan about the maze and how he was getting Dobby to make a map.

"We had to come up with a charmed item which was linked to the Marauders' Map. If Dobby takes it through the maze after making the map, it will charm the map and it will be like the Marauders' Map. I'll get the charmed item together so your elf can collect it."

The next day, Sirius had found a ball which was charmed to help activate the new map. He called Dobby (Harry had told him the previous day that he could obey Sirius' summons) who appeared in the dining room of his house only for the Black house elf to ambush him. The two elves started fighting with one another.

"Only Kreacher serves Master Black." The Black elf said.

"And Dobby is here to serve Harry Potter!" Dobby said.

"You dare mention that half-blood in the house of my Pureblood Mistress, filthy friend of Mudbloods."

"Kreacher will not insult Harry Potter in front of Dobby, no he won't or Dobby will shut Kreacher's mouth for him!" Dobby said.

"Oh what would Kreacher's poor mistress say.." Kreacher began but didn't get the chance to finish what he was saying as Dobby punched him in the face. Sirius cast a spell to separate the two, stunning Kreacher.

"Just take this ball," Sirius said to Dobby, "and hold it to the map while going through the maze to activate it."

It was another three hours before a battered and bruised Dobby came back to Harry in the Ravenclaw common room.

"Do I need to ask what happened to you?" Harry asked.

"No sir," Dobby said, "Your map is complete. It will tell you where everyone is and any creatures."

"Thank you." Harry replied.


	10. Chapter 10

_Sorry that this chapter is smaller than usual, but there is only so much that can go into the chapter and keep the ending I wanted to use._

 **Chapter Ten**

The day of the third task came. Harry went to the Great Hall to have some breakfast before the task and was surprised to learn that no-one from his school was there. He walked over to Headmistress Daniels.

"Isn't anyone coming today?" he asked her.

"I'm afraid that Dumbledore has banned all visitors from our school following the assault on Draco Malfoy." She answered.

"He attacked one of my friends," Harry protested, "one of your students!"

"He was cleared on the grounds that she is a Muggleborn and so can do whatever he pleases. Sadly, the law isn't like it is in Australia where the perpetrator of a crime is punished regardless of blood status," She continued, "So, I refused to punish our students for attacking Malfoy and our Ministry refuses to extradite them. Things can work both ways Harry."

Aunt Sarah came in a few minutes later and went over to Harry.

"I'm sorry Harry," she said, "But I was not going to bring the girls down here until the heat has died down and myself and Uncle Alex have managed to arrange legal protection for them. I will bring them down for the final task though."

"It's alright," Harry said, "As long as it keeps them safe, that's all that matters."

"Restraining orders won't help because you have friends who like the girls and it would not be fair on them." Aunt Sarah continued.

"What this country needs is to be brought into the 20th century." Harry said, "It makes me glad that I'm returning to Australia after this blooming tournament comes to an end."

Hermione Granger stepped forward.

"Sarah Falk - how dare you kidnap Harry from his rightful home!" she accused, "he was in a loving home with his aunt, uncle and cousin before you took him away under the pretence of being Lily Potter's twin sister!"

"Miss Granger, i don't know where you got your information from but you have a lot of strange ideas about me." Aunt Sarah said.

"I read about Harry in many books and none of them mention Lily Potter having a twin sister!" Hermione shouted.

"I'll tell you many things those books, authorised by your idol Albus Dumbledore, never mentioned," Aunt Sarah added, "Vernon and Petunia Dursley are registered magic haters. By law, Harry should not have been placed with them. They were the ones who dumped Harry on me, myself being in the Potter wills as guardian after Sirius Black."

"That's a lie!" Hermione continued.

"How do you know? Have you investigated the register? Do you know what was in the will?" Aunt Sarah asked, "Do you take everything Dumbledore says as gospel?"

"She does," Ron Weasley said, "if it's not in a book either endorsed by Dumbledore or in the Hogwarts library, then it's a lie."

"Miss Granger," Aunt Sarah said, "please go away and do not embarrass yourself any further."

Hermione stormed off.

* * *

In the absence of supporters from his school, Daphne, Luna and the Weasleys arranged a support group themselves. Theodore Nott from Slytherin joined in along with Neville Longbottom and Marianne Valentine (who hated Cedric Diggory with a passion) who was also joined by members of each house. A few of them had helped Harry research some curses and hexes to use. The _Reductor_ curse wasn't taught until seventh year DADA in Sydney, the spell being used by a fourth year roughly ten years ago when bullying a first year and the student in question was almost killed. Headmistress Daniels ruled that the spell was to only be taught to seventh years taking NEWT level Defence Against the Dark Arts to try and prevent such an incident happening again. All this made Harry feel slightly bad about abandoning them to return to Australia.

The champions were led out to the Quidditch pitch. Harry had not been there (except for when Crouch held the first meeting about the third task) despite an invitation from several students to go flying. The hedges were now over fifteen feet tall, with four entrances, which Harry theorised was for each champion to enter the maze.

Mr. Crouch cast the loudspeaker charm on himself.

"Welcome to the third task. This morning, something was taken from our champions and put in the middle of the maze. Their task is to find their treasure for the treasure will provide the vital clue needed to find out about the final task. There will be many obstacles to prevent them from succeeding however.

"Right now, Miss. Delacour is in the lead so she will enter the maze first followed by Mr. Potter, Mr. Diggory and Mr. Krum. The first three will get to pick the entrance they get to enter."

He turned to the champions.

"If in any case, you find yourself in trouble and need to forfeit the task, then send up red sparks with your wand." Crouch said, "The task starts now!"

Fleur walked to an entrance and walked through. A minute later, the entrance sealed itself. A few minutes later, Harry picked an entrance and walked into the maze, the entrance closing behind him. He reached into his pocket and took out the map then activated it. He traced a quick route and made his way. After he turned the first few corners, a big spider landed in front of him. He raised his wand and said: " _Incendo!_ "

The fire hit the spider which crumbled to dust.

"Looks like the map works," Harry said, expecting the spider. He took another look at the map and carried on along his route. He wondered what they were thinking when the maze was designed.

Harry started to walk along a long passage when he was confronted by another creature. This time he recognised it as a Blast Ended Skrewt – he had seen Hagrid working on them. He raised his wand and charged up and fired a knockback jinx. The skrewt was sent flying.

" _Wingardiam Leviosa_." Harry said, firing a spell at the Skrewt. It floated in the air, then Harry sent it flying back the way he came. He didn't stop to see it crash into the hedge.

Meanwhile, Fleur was having problems dealing with spiders – she was terrified of them. Eventually, she was able to get rid of it with some cutting hexes followed by an _Incendio_.

Harry made his way down another straight when he saw the unbelievable – a dragon. He stood and watched as it flew towards him, breathing fire.

"Charms would never stop a dragon burning down the edges of the maze. The challenge is to determine what is real and what is an illusion." He said to himself. Harry checked the map but there was no trace of the dragon. He knew it could pick up creatures as he could see Fleur dealing with a Skrewt while Cedric was dealing with a Boggart (which also had the name Severus Snape attached to it).

He got into a slight sprint, as fast as he could go on his leg and reached the dragon a few moments later and then walked through it. With a bright flash, the dragon vanished. He chuckled to himself as he realised he knew the dragon – it was a Helen Daniels Techno-Mage dragon. She would create dragon displays at the Academy and challenge the seventh years to recreate them at the end of the year. It was reported she had done that for the past thirty years and no-one had gotten close to recreating one.

He then turned a corner – the second to last before reaching the centre of the maze. He saw the air distort then two people in familiar robes appeared.

"It worked," one said, "There's Potter over there."

"Come peacefully Potter," the other said, "and we won't harm you."

"Yeah, our master wants to talk to you." The first Death Eater said.

"Come on," Harry said, "Pull the other one. You Death Eaters can't do anything right."

The Death Eaters looked at Harry, wondering what he was talking about.

"Your friend Lucius Malfoy, presented with three targets missed each one then got himself arrested."

"You fell into our trap nicely Potter," the first Death Eater said, "Our Master will reward us handsomely."

"There's one thing you never put in a trap if you're smart, if you value your continued existence, if you ever have any plans on seeing tomorrow, there's one thing you never put into a trap." Harry said.

"And what is that Potter?" the Death Eater asked.

"Me." Harry replied.

Realising what he meant, the Death Eaters fired curses at him. Harry ducked out of the way the best he could.

" _Stupefy!_ " he shouted. The first Death Eater fell stunned and before the second one could do anything, Harry stunned him. He took their wands and snapped them in two before dropping them. Harry also put them in a full body bind and tied them up. He then stepped over them and continued through the maze.

Suddenly, the wind seemed to pick up and leaves and grass started blowing towards him. Ignoring the potential pain in his leg, Harry ran through it the best he could but the wind fought against him. He then cast a shield charm and held it as he worked through the storm of wind. But he couldn't hold the shield for long but before the wind blew him over, he cast a lassoing charm on the nearby hedge. It went around the bottom of the hedge and Harry was able to pull himself along the ground, underneath the wind. He made it to the hedge and crawled around a corner where there was no wind. He released the lassoing charm and stood back up.

It had the body of a lion and the head of a woman and he realized the Sphinx was going to ask him a riddle.

"Right I can do this." Harry, "I wish to pass."

"You must answer my riddle then, three tries you have, answer wrong and you will die." She replied.

"Right, I am ready."

" _First think of the person who lives in disguise,_

 _Who deals in secrets and tells naught but lies._

 _Next, tell me what's always the last thing to mend,_

 _The middle of middle and end of end?_

 _And finally give me the sound often heard,_

 _During the search for a hard-to-find word._

 _Now string them together and answer me this,_

 _What creature would you be unwilling to kiss?"_

"Spider." Harry said after considering the words quickly.

"Then you may pass."

"Thank you." Harry said bowing to her. The sphinx moved aside and Harry walked past. He checked the map to make sure he was on the right path and noticed Krum's name wasn't moving. He quickly dismissed it as he theorised that he couldn't continue.

Harry could see a clearing ahead and ran as fast as he could. There, he could see four people – Daphne (he had wondered where she was), Fleur's sister Gabrielle, Hermione Granger and Cho Chang – he knew she was Cedric's girlfriend.

As if she was told to, Daphne stood up and walked over to Harry. She held out her hands and in them were two round objects. There was what looked like an eye on them and beams of light fired from them back and forth.

"You must choose the right eye Harry Potter," Daphne said in a dream like voice, "as it will provide a clue to the final task."

He looked at her hands and wondered what was the proper eye. He knew Daphne was ambidextrous, so it wouldn't be a case of it being held by her non-writing hand.

"What can you tell me?" Harry asked.

"I cannot tell you anything." She answered.

Harry looked as Cho Chang stood up and slowly walked towards his location. He took another look at Daphne and noticed something. On her left ear, instead of her usual earring, was a small replica of the two eyes she was holding. He reached out and touched the earring. He felt a tug and both he and Daphne vanished.

 _I know I'm cruel here! Here's a chance to influence the income – should Krum be dead or just stunned?_


	11. Chapter 11

_Thanks for all the suggestions of what Krum's fate should be._

 **CHAPTER ELEVEN**

The two reappeared outside the maze. A few minutes later, Cedric Diggory appeared with Cho Chang and not long after that, Fleur appeared with her sister. Only Krum was nowhere to be found.

Mr. Crouch spoke to the other teachers who went looking for him. He then turned to face everyone.

"The winner of this task is Mr. Potter!" he shouted. There were cheers from Harry's support group. He then turned to the champions.

"Take the eyes from your hostages," he said. The champions did so, "The Portkeys that you recovered are used with the eyes in order to give you a clue for the final task, which is being held in June. More details will be given to you nearer the time."

Harry stepped forward. "I want to know why there were Death Eaters in the maze for me to face." He said.

"Mr. Potter," Dumbledore said, "There were no Death Eaters in the maze. We never got anyone to dress up as them."

"Go into the maze and you'll find them stunned and body bound with broken wands. They wanted to take me in order to serve their master." Harry replied.

Then to add to Dumbledore's worries, two teachers came out of the maze with a badly injured Krum.

"We just had to save him from some creature bred by Hagrid and an Acromantula." Flitwick said.

Krum was taken straight to the hospital wing.

"Where in the task description did it say Death Eaters would be part of the task?" Ambassador Ramsey asked.

"Nowhere, that's where." Madam Maxime replied.

"You are showing a surprising lack of security here Dumbledore," Ramsey said, "and there is overwhelming evidence that they were helped into the maze by a member of Hogwarts staff. How else could they have gotten into the maze if not with help? I reckon someone provided them with Portkey co-ordinates, that's how they slipped past the Australian Aurors."

"My champion has been seriously injured by creatures bred by your gamekeeper, which if I know the law correctly is illegal," Karakoff said, "If Viktor's Quidditch career is over because of this, rest assured a big deal will be made about it."

* * *

Fudge was meeting with Dumbledore and the other school Heads in addition to Ambassador Ramsey the next day over the Death Eaters in the maze.

"No, I will not cancel the tournament!" he was heard to shout, "I will not be seen to be a coward just because some people want to play dress up! I've already ordered their release."

There was outrage at this news.

"They told my investigators that they were under the Imperius curse. Naturally, I ordered their release straight away." Fudge said.

"Do you even investigate claims of people being under the Imperius curse?" Madam Maxime asked.

"Why should I? They're respected purebloods and I will not tolerate anyone questioning such fine people."

"I want their names Fudge," Ambassador Ramsey said, "and my Aurors will be questioning them."

"NO!" Fudge shouted.

"Your precious Purebloods attempted to abduct an Australian citizen, a minor no less," Ramsey said, "in my country, that is treated very seriously, no matter what their blood status is. Another thing, when did the Minister of Magic have the authority to release suspects without investigation?"

Fudge didn't say anything.

"If you insist on doing nothing about it Fudge," Daniels said, "We will begin our own investigations and bring in our own security."

"You already have your Aurors here to protect Mr. Potter," Fudge said, "You can't bring in anymore. I won't allow it!"

"If she can't," Madam Maxime said, "I will. Hogwarts staff and students have already been behaving like reckless hooligans. I will not stand by and allow terrorists to gate-crash this tournament and harm our students. As the representative of Beauxbatons, I can and will have our participation in this tournament forfeit and I will make sure the press find out about it."

"I've got a good mind to forfeit the tournament right now!" Karkaoff said, "Because of your gamekeeper's illegal cross-breeding and your insistence on having Acromantula for the task, insisting it would be safe, my champion is now injured and his career is now in danger. It seems strange that other schools' champions are being injured or ambushed."

"How about a compromise," Fudge suggested, "We allow a neutral country perform an investigation into these events? That way there will be no bias."

Everyone agreed that that would be acceptable. After everyone left Dumbledore's office, Ramsey and Daniels took Madam Maxime and Karkaoff aside.

"We'll get our Aurors to investigate this. Knowing Fudge and Dumbledore, they won't get anyone in." She said and the other two headteachers agreed. She was proved right - Fudge kept blocking an investigation.

* * *

There were signs of increased security for Harry the following day. Where he went, be it in the castle or outside, he was flanked by two Australian Aurors. One of them explained that they weren't taking any chances. Lucius Malfoy had been questioned again and had named several Death Eaters who had escaped justice who had children in the school who were under instructions to slip a Portkey to Harry.

To stop students writing to their families about the incident, Fudge immediately imposed a ban on mail going in and out of Hogwarts and never told the public. Even Harry's mail was stopped. Mail to the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang living quarters was also stopped. Their own owls were stopped from leaving.

* * *

There was an article in The Quibbler a few days later. Because of Fudge's mail ban, no-one at Hogwarts received it.

 _ **VIKTOR KRUM'S QUIDDITCH CAREER OVER!**_

 _ **QUESTIONS ABOUT TRIWIZARD SAFETY**_

 _Last week was the third task of the Triwizard Tournament. The task was a maze filled with traps and obstacles and to complete the task, the champions had to retrieve a treasure from the centre of the maze._

 _First of all, Harry Potter was ambushed by Death Eaters who were transported into the maze by Portkey. Luckily, he was able to subdue them. However,_ _they claimed to be under the Imperius Curse and because British Aurors had arrested them,_ _they were released straight away without further questioning. Minister Fudge has issued a_ _gag order_ _banning us from naming the captured wizards. He has even had the Hogwarts Owlery closed and the sending of mail banned to make sure no-one leaks the news. I checked with some legal experts and the only time the Minister can do this is in a time of war._

 _But Dumstrang champion Viktor Krum came out worse off. He was attacked by both an Acromantula and a creature, bred by Hogwarts gamekeeper Rubeus Hagrid_ _, in violation of the law involving cross-species breeding._

 _Mr. Krum was bitten by the Acromantula and wasn't found until it was too late. The only way to save his life was to amputate his right arm. Sadly, skele-gro couldn't be used to regrow the arm and now Mr. Krum has to wear a prosthetic. However, there are laws preventing people with prosthetic arms from participating in professional Quidditch so unfortunately, his Quidditch career is now over._

 _This has raised some serious issues with safety involving the Triwizard and this editor is aware of a new investigation into Hogwarts security._

* * *

The consequences of the maze task were felt two weeks later. Krum's family filed legal action against Hagrid, Hogwarts and the Ministry citing future loss of income following the injury. The Bulgarian Quidditch National Squad also filed legal action but they wanted more than money.

Fudge and Dumbledore knew that they would lose so offered a settlement of five million galleons to be divided between Viktor Krum and the Bulgarian National Squad. Hagrid was sacked with immediate effect because of the illegal cross-breeding and for breeding the Acromantula that was in the maze. He didn't have a lot of money but every Knut, Sickle and Galleon he had was confiscated to make up part of the settlement package. To save Hogwarts' funds from suffering, Dumbledore paid the school's half out of his own money which left him almost broke. Dumbledore also stepped in to prevent Hagrid from being sent to Azkaban.

There were even more consequences – Bulgaria decided with immediate effect to cut off all economic ties with England and if it hadn't been for a binding magical contract and the fact Krum couldn't forfeit the final task until the day it was held, they would have ordered the immediate recall of the entire Durmstrang party. The Durmstrang students decided to stay to support Krum for the final task. As it was, all members of the Bulgarian Quidditch teams were now refusing to play against English teams and the National Squad coach was calling for the International Quidditch League to disband all English Quidditch teams. The request was refused however, as it was ruled that the teams had nothing to do with what was happening at Hogwarts.

Fudge was also told to revoke the mail ban. Following a complaint by Ambassador Ramsey that mail he sent to Harry was intercepted and returned (although unread due to the charms), he filed a complaint and the ICW ruled the Hogwarts mail ban was illegal. It was discovered a room in the Ministry was filled with letters sent by parents which had been intercepted.

After the ban was lifted, knowing how much Hagrid liked dragons, Ginny Weasley wrote to her brother Charlie who arranged for him to get a job at his Romanian Dragon Preserve.

* * *

The day after it was announced that Bulgaria had cut all economic ties with England, Fred and George came into the Great Hall with a new invention. It was a board game based on the maze. Dice were used to determine the number of spots a player could move and figures would move based on the number on the dice. It was noted that none of the champion figures looked like the champions, each one refusing to allow their likenesses to be used (Harry did lend them the map in return for a free copy of the game to send back home). There were also things created that were to prevent the players from succeeding. They were charmed to attack or miss after a person had their go and the player would roll another dice to determine what spell to use or if they missed. There were also charms to accurately reflect the effects or non effects on the cast spell. The player would lose if they lost all four health points. Professor Flitwick was over the moon when he saw it – he awarded the twins fifty points each for excellent charm work and was heard to celebrate the fact he seemed to be the only one to get them to learn something (Ron later told Harry the twins got three OWLs each much to the dismay of Mrs Weasley). McGonagall was impressed by the transfiguration and awarded them twenty points each. The only one unimpressed was Hermione Granger. Harry found out that in their first three years, the twins got better marks in Charms than she did in her first three years and their OWL grade was the best since his mother was at school.

The games sold in their hundreds and the twins started to make a lot of money. Harry convinced Krum and Fleur to arrange a few sales to their countrymen, telling them that Fred and George were good people, had nothing to do with Fudge or Dumbledore and none of the money would benefit the Ministry or Hogwarts.

* * *

A few days later, Harry was in the hospital wing having his leg checked out by Madam Pomfrey (who was ruled to be trustworthy) when the door opened and Draco Malfoy was brought in with his two thugs while Ron Weasley was brought in by two fellow Gryffindors.

"Need I ask what happened to you two?" Madam Pomfrey asked.

"They hit each other with curses." One Gryffindor (Seamus Finnigan if Harry remembered correctly) said.

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to report it," Madam Pomfrey said, examining Malfoy, "I've kept quiet about this but it looks like staff intervention is the best way to get it through to you."

She left the room to make a floo call.

"Does this sort of thing happen often?" Harry asked.

"It's a private matter between me and that blood traitor." Malfoy said. The magical restraining order was not in effect with this case as it was not known Harry was in the hospital wing.

"It's always happening Mr. Potter," Madam Pomfrey said, returning, "Always some debate about blood purity, blood traitors and liking Muggles. Professors Snape and McGonagall along with the Headmaster are on their way." She turned to Harry, "You're free to go Mr. Potter, come back in two weeks for a further check-up."

But before Harry could leave, Snape, McGonagall and Dumbledore came in. Snape saw Malfoy with his unhealed wounds then saw Harry and put two and two together (and got five).

"What have you done Potter?" Snape demanded, "I'll have you arrested for this!"

"Professor Snape!" Madam Pomfrey said, "Calm yourself. For your information, Mr. Potter was in here before they were brought in and it was Mr. Malfoy and Mr. Weasley who cursed each other."

"Then what is Potter doing here? I don't see any injuries on him." Snape asked.

"I cannot answer your question Severus," Madam Pomfrey said, "Healer / Patient confidentiality. Now, I've held my tongue for two years but your students keep cursing each other. Something has to be done about it."

* * *

In the end, both Malfoy and Ron were given a month's worth of detention and both lost their house fifty points – McGonagall had to deduct from both houses and issue the detention as Snape was still unable to deduct points or issue punishments.

Ron told Harry later that day that the detentions involved both students having to help Filtch with cleaning the castle. Filtch spent most of his time saying how he wished he could use whips to make the students behave and had a lifelong desire to chain the Weasley twins in the dungeons, having failed to chain up the Marauders when they were at school.

But there was more to come for Ron the day after the fight. The Weasley family owl flew into the Great Hall and dropped a red letter in front of Ron which promptly exploded and Molly Weasley's trademark loud voice could be heard:

" **RONALD WEASLEY! I AM ASHAMED TO HEAR ABOUT WHAT YOU HAVE BEEN DOING! I COULD HAVE DIED OF SHAME WHEN McGONAGALL FLOO CALLED ME AND TOLD ME ABOUT TWO YEARS OF CURSING ANOTHER STUDENT! YES, DRACO MALFOY MAY HAVE DONE THE SAME BUT I THOUGHT WE TAUGHT YOU NEVER TO STOOP TO SOMEONE ELSE'S LEVEL! IF YOU CROSS THE LINE AGAIN, I'LL BE STRAIGHT DOWN TO SCHOOL TO BRING YOU HOME!** **"**

Ron went bright red as the letter tore itself apart and everyone started laughing. Draco didn't receive a Howler as his father was in prison and his mother had left the country. Snape did have harsh words with him.

* * *

As time went on, Hogwarts was peaceful again. Hermione Granger held her tounge (which Harry was told was a first). The champions met up on occasion to discuss the final task – none had managed to figure out how to interpret the clue. They put the two eyes together along with each hostage's item and a screaming sound could be heard.

"It sounds like Percy singing in the shower." Ron said one day in the Great Hall when Harry asked his advice (with three brothers in high level careers, Harry thought Ron might be able to suggest one to give an idea).

"It sounds like someone being put under the Cruciatus curse." Neville said with nerves in his voice.

"They wouldn't do that to the champions," Fred Weasley said, counting the number of orders for the maze board game, "but I would agree with Ron about it sounding like Percy's singing."

* * *

During a free period, Harry used his mirror to call one of his best friends at Sydney. No-one at Hogwarts knew about the mirrors.

"We heard you won the third task – well done." She said.

"Thanks," Harry said, "Got a brain-teaser for you – we were given three items and when they get put together, they make a screeching sort of sound."

"Put them together please and I'll record them." She said. Harry put the items together and the screeching sound could be heard. He quickly took them apart. "I've got them on tape. I'll ask around and let you know."

"Thanks," Harry said, "How's things down there?"

"All going fine. Everyone is rooting for you to win, although they won't mind if you lose to anyone but Hogwarts because in their opinion, a loss for Hogwarts is a major kick in the face for Dumbledore. Professor Carey got married last weekend. We've got to put in our nominations for fifth year Prefect and Student Council members next week."

Harry had forgotten about it. "I'll get Professor Daniels to forward my nominations as soon as possible." He said. The friend promised to let Professor Martin (Deputy Head) know the following day.


	12. Chapter 12

_Thanks as always to my beta and thanks to witowsmp for helping me with the song. It is with sadness that the story is coming to a close. Will Harry remain in England? Will he be free to return to Australia? Only time will tell._

 **Chapter Twelve**

Dumbledore was frustrated. Thanks to him paying Hogwarts' half of Krum's compensation package, he was almost out of money and his brother Alberforth wouldn't give him any. He opened a drawer on his desk and saw a key that hadn't been used. It was the key to Harry Potter's trust vault – he took it from the Godric's Hollow house after James and Lily Potter were killed. He would borrow some money and get it back before anyone noticed. He knew that it would still be housed in British Gringotts vaults, Harry not having the authority to have any of his vaults moved until he was of age (as a Muggleborn, Aunt Sarah couldn't authorise it either). The only thing Harry could do was access it from the Australian branch.

He apperated to Gringotts and walked to a teller.

"I would like to withdraw some money from vault 625 please," he said, presenting the key. The goblin looked at it then gave it back.

"I'm afraid I can't help you Headmaster." The goblin said.

"Why not?"

"Because this is the old key to Harry Potter's trust vault and you are number one on a list of people not to grant access to. If it wasn't for the fact you have charges against you forthcoming, I would have you killed for this indiscression. Now, I suggest you leave this bank." The goblin said.

Dumbledore left at once.

* * *

Before the students returning home for Easter left the school, Flitwick took Harry aside. He was going to Grimmwald Place.

"Two Australian Aurors are going to be in the village and will be on hand if they are needed," Flitwick said, "It's on record that you won't be here for the holidays, but only the two of us, the Ambassador, Ms. Daniels and the Australian Aurors know where you will be."

* * *

That evening, Harry's mirror buzzed. He answered it and one of his Sydney friends appeared.

"I passed the recording around. It's suggested you put the eye together underwater." she said.

"Thanks!" Harry replied.

He went into the bathroom, filled the bath and put the eyes together, then put his head underwater. A singing voice could be heard.

 _Come Seek Us Where our Voices Sound_

 _For We Have, the Triwizard Cup,_

 _An Hour Long, You Have to Seek,_

 _To Recover the Sacred Cup,_

 _and Become the Triwizard Champion_

"That says it all," Harry said to himself, "The Triwizard Cup is going to be at the bottom of the Black Lake, you'll have an hour to reach it and become the Champion."

"That's going to be harder than I thought." Harry thought, "I can't go into salt water – it'll hamper the recovery of my leg."

An hour later, Harry got his mirror out and called Aunt Sarah.

"Enjoying yourself at your godfather's house Harry?" she teased.

"Yes, but I've found out what the final task involves – I have to go into the Black Lake to recover the Triwizard Cup, but it's salt water and I can't go in." Harry replied.

"What do you need?" Aunt Sarah asked.

"Can you go to my Healer and get a note explaining that salt water is hazardous to my recovery please?" asked Harry.

"I'll get it sorted out as soon as possible." Aunt Sarah promised.

* * *

Some parents were visiting Headmistress Daniels in the Leaky Cauldron a few days later.

"So, you would like to transfer your children to the Sydney Academy?" she asked, "Considering the way Albus Dumbledore allows things to happen, I can't see why not. If you give me full details on their marks and classes, I'll see about getting them admitted next year."

The same parents also visited Ambassador Ramsey who promised to arrange student visas for the people in question.

* * *

On the last day of the holidays, Harry visited the Burrow. He was engulfed by a Molly Weasley bear-hug.

"If I don't see you before I go," Harry said, "I want to thank you for helping me. I'm sure if Dumbledore hadn't suggested I stay with you, I would be in Azkaban now."

"You're welcome Harry." She said, "I hope you come back and visit some day."

* * *

Three weeks later, Hedwig flew into the Great Hall and dropped two letters in front of Harry. He picked it up and after the magic in the letter detected it was him, it allowed him to open it.

"Anything good?" Marianne asked (she was sitting opposite him).

"Just news from the Academy.." Harry began before Marianne snatched it from his hand and read it.

"You've been nominated for House Prefect and for the Student Council!" Marianne said, "How does it work?"

"The students in fourth year nominate someone they feel will represent their house as both a Prefect and the Student Council. The Headmistress and Deputy Headmaster will rule on the Prefect but Student Council members are elected by the students." Harry answered.

"What about sports captains?" Marianne continued.

"Elected by the students. The Headmistress does have the power to override selections," Harry continued, "If say the students elected Draco Malfoy, considering his behaviour, Headmistress Daniels would probably veto his appointment and either get the students to pick someone else or she will pick someone herself. It's not often she gets into this sort of decision making but she will if need be. His father's influence would mean nothing."

He looked at the other letter. It was his medical exception letter from Sydney.

* * *

Later that day, he went up to the Hospital Wing to see Madam Pomfrey.

"What can I do for you Mr. Potter?" she asked him.

"The final task is set in the Black Lake. Exposure to salt water will not help my leg heal. I already have a medical note from my Healer in Sydney, but could you do a quick examination and write a note yourself please?" he asked.

"Alright," she said, taking out her wand. She started to examine Harry's leg and made notes, "Your father was in here a lot in his day."

"What did he do?" Harry asked.

"It was either injuries from Quidditch or side effects of those pranks he used to pull with Sirius Black," she said, "Such talent behind those pranks. They would give Zonko's a run for their money. I understand the Weasley twins are just like them. Some of their work would sell quite well."

"I know they created an enchanted map of Hogwarts when they were at school, which showed where everyone was." Harry said.

"I've seen it – I caught your father reading it during one of his many stays here. He got hexed by your mother – I can't remember why. It was something bad as he was here for two days. That map was remarkable."

"Sirius helped me create one for the maze," Harry said.

"I wondered how you got through there so quickly." Madam Pomfrey said.

"The others probably ran or wasted time casting spells when they saw the dragon," he said. Madam Pomfrey looked horrified, "It wasn't even real – a Helen Daniels techno-mage dragon. She challenges the seventh years to recreate it and they fail every time."

The matron finished writing her notes. "Here you go Mr. Potter," she said, giving him a piece of parchment, "Come by again before you go, it'll be nice to have a chat with you."

"It's a promise." Harry said.

Hermione Granger came in to collect a potion.

"Harry Potter," she said, "I've written to my father and asked him to work with his contacts in the Crown Prosecution Service to get the Dursleys released from prison and to have Sarah Falk arrested for kidnapping!"

Harry ignored her and walked out. Madam Pomfrey turned to her.

"Miss Granger," she began, "I've never seen you act this way, what is the problem?"

"Sarah Falk who claims to be Lily Potter's twin sister kidnapped Harry and had the Dursleys sentenced to prison." Hermione answered.

"And what makes you think she is a fake?" Madam Pomfrey asked.

"All the history books which talk about Harry vanquishing You-Know-Who make no mention of a twin sister," Hermione answered, "Dumbledore says she's a fake!"

"Listen here young lady," Madam Pomfrey started, "Sarah Falk WAS Lily Potter's twin sister. Both of them were at Hogwarts. I gave them the same potions I'm giving you now. Sarah Evans, as she was then, came to me before she left England. She was leaving due to the Death Eaters who had murdered their parents. She had tried to convince Lily and James to go with her to Australia. But because James Potter was as loyal to Dumbledore as you are, he refused to go and Lily stayed here with him. But Sarah Evans left for Australia and never came back. Before you blindly believe two books and Dumbledore's word, I suggest you research for yourself. Ask Professor McGonagall to see the Gryffindor students lists from 1971 - 1978. As for the Dursleys, I'm told they were locked up for child abuse. Petunia Dursley is a registered magic hater. In 1977, she assaulted Sarah with the help of Vernon Dursley. They got two years in prison for it. By law, they should not have gotten custody of Harry, let alone any other magical child. One final lesson - do not take what Albus Dumbledore says with blind faith."

* * *

Three days later, Harry walked through the Entrance Hall to suddenly feel two heavyweights on his legs – he looked down and it was the twins.

"Hello big brother!" they said. He prised them off his legs and gave them a cuddle each. He looked up and saw Aunt Sarah, Uncle Alex and what appeared to be a young woman holding a baby. She was with a man.

"Phoebe?" he asked.

"The very same." She said. He went over to her and shared a cuddle.

"This is my husband Stephen." She said. Harry shook his hand and recognised him – he was a student at the Academy – in fact, he was on his final year when Harry first attended.

"Good to see you again Harry – I was surprised to find out Phoebe knew you." Stephen said, "Ever since I found out you were in this Triwizard, I kept track of you to see how well you would do. Then I found out Phoebe and most of Ramsey Street knew you but had no knowledge of you being magical."

"We explained to her about it," Aunt Sarah said, "and she was alright about it. She insisted on coming down with us to support you on the final task."

"Thank you," Harry said, he then turned his attention to the baby, "So this is Hope?"

"Yes she is," Phoebe said, "Would you like to hold her?"

She passed the baby over to Harry who held her with expertise.

"You handle babies well Harry." Stephen said.

"Well, considering I did my fair share of dealing with these two buggers," Harry said, referring to the twins who were on his legs again, "how can I not have good experience?"

"Be careful, we might get you to baby-sit." Phoebe said, "There is something we want to discuss with you. We want you to be Hope's godfather."

"I'd be honoured." Harry said "Thank you."

Hermione Granger walked towards them. The twins looked at her, knowing who she was and what she was trying to do involving Harry. They looked at her and moments later, she was sent flying and crashed into a wall.

"Leave big brother!" Miranda said.

"Our big brother." Isobel said, "Leave our big brother!"

Hermione had to be levitated to the hospital wing.


	13. Chapter 13

**This is the second to last chapter, which covers the fourth and final task and the repercussions of both Dumbledore and the Ministry's actions. There will be an epilogue. I hope people are pleased with how Hermione Granger was dealt with. I want to thank everyone who gave suggestions and ideas along with lots of kind words.**

 **Chapter Thirteen**

"This is the final task. Earlier today, the Triwizard Cup was taken out here to the Black Lake. No-one knows its exact location. Our champions have one hour in which to find the cup. The one who gets to the cup first is the winner." Mr. Crouch said. Students, family and staff members and Ministry staff were on platforms which were standing above the middle of the Black Lake. There were also Australian and French Aurors on guard duty.

Harry stepped forward.

"Judges, for medical reasons, I have to forfeit this task." He said.

"What is the problem?" Mr. Crouch asked.

"Salt water is hazardous to the recovery of my leg," Harry answered, "I have notes from my Healer in Australia, Hogwarts' own Poppy Pompfrey and a Healer from St. Mungo's." During the previous Hogsmeade trip, Harry had arranged to meet a Healer from St. Mungo's. Harry passed three bits of parchment over to Crouch who read them.

"These are in order." Mr. Crouch said.

Snape decided to step in. "Just like his father, Potter is so arrogant, first he thinks he's too good for my class and now he things he is too good to finish the tournament he put himself in for. That so-called leg injury is just a play for attention and those notes are probably forgeries, financed by the Potter vaults!"

Harry had finally had enough of Snape. "Listen here, _Snivellious_ ," he said (Sirius had taught him that name), "I am sick to high heaven of you comparing me to my father, a man who has been dead for nearly fourteen years. No wonder Slytherin House think they can do what they want, when they want and how they want, when their Head of House is so pathetic, he bares a grudge against a child just because of their father. Well I've had enough of you and your stupid grudges!"

Snape raised his wand at Harry and started to speak a spell. People would later swear they heard him start to cast the killing curse. Then, without warning, Harry pushed Snape with all his strength and the teacher fell off the platform and into the lake. He attempted to grab hold of Dumbledore and the Headmaster fell in too. Many students started laughing. Both Dumbledore and Snape climbed back onto the platform soaking wet.

"Albus – I demand you have that boy arrested!" Snape said, "He assaulted a teacher!"

"If it wasn't for you and your pet ferret," Harry said, "my leg would have recovered by now!"

Snape started to turn purple. Before Dumbledore could say anything, Headmistress Daniels stepped in, "I believe he was acting in self-defence – you were about to cast a spell on him." She turned to Harry, "Mr. Potter, I know you've done what many students have wished to do, and it may seem funny, but stooping to his level of behaviour is not the way to go. Because you've suffered his digs and jibes for nearly a year without retaliation, I won't punish you."

"Thank you." Harry said.

Snape was about to lose his temper, "Albus – do something!" he shouted.

"I'm afraid for this exact moment, Mr. Potter is Professor Daniels' student and she has overall authority."

"If there are no more interruptions," Mr. Crouch said, "Earlier today, the Triwizard Cup was placed in the Black Lake. All our champions will have to do is find it. When they touch it, they will be transported back here by Portkey. For medical reasons, Mr. Potter has to forfeit this task, so his point total remains at 153. As Fleur Delacour is second with 140 points, she will go first. Then Mr. Diggory and then Mr. Krum." Krum was told he could be excused from the task as-well but he decided to try it, he wasn't going to forfeit.

A canon sounded and the three remaining champions dived into the water.

Nearly an hour later, Cedric and Krum appeared on the platform, but there was no sign of Fleur or the Triwizard Cup. Cedric had used the Bubble-head charm and Krum managed a partial transfiguration into a shark.

"One of the champions is missing," Dumbledore said, "We must look for her at once."

Just as Dumbledore was going to send a signal for help, Fleur appeared on the platform, carrying the Triwizard Cup and a bundle. A splash could be heard – everyone looked at the lake and saw six people in Death Eater robes all tied together.

"What is the meaning of this?" Ambassador Ramsey asked, "Where in the task description did it say that the champion would be taken somewhere to face Death Eaters?"

"I do not understand," Dumbledore said, "I turned the Cup into a Portkey myself and it was supposed to bring the champion straight back here." For once, his expression was of genuine surprise. "A student volunteered to drop the cup in a random location in the lake."

"What happened?" Ramsey asked.

"That Cup took me to a graveyard, where I saw them and this bundle. It was obvious dark magic was being practiced there so while they were distracted, I cast a lassoing charm on them, summoned that bundle and used the Cup to return here." Fleur said, breathless.

The prisoners and the bundle were taken to Dumbledore's office to be questioned in the presence of British, French and Australian Aurors along with Ambassador Ramsey. Soon afterwards, a student vanished.

* * *

Ambassador Ramsey had Harry called to Flitwick's office – it turned out the two were friends.

"Mr. Potter, there are some disturbing things that have come out thanks to Miss. Delacour." Ramsey said.

"What are they?" Harry asked.

"It seems there was a Death Eater plot to revive Voldemort to a body. They were taking advantage of you being here to carry out the plan. A seventh year student was abducted before term began and a Death Eater impersonated him – it turned out the Death Eater was a metamorph and so could carry out the plan. He managed to obtain a sample of your handwriting, added Hogwarts to it and put it in the Goblet of Fire. This Death Eater also took the cup out to the Black Lake, modifying the Portkey spell on it. After Voldemort's revival, they were to use the Portkey to return here.

"When Miss. Delacour arrived instead of you, their plans had to be altered. But they didn't count on her experience and she was able to distract them long enough to summon their wands and tie them up. It appears their magical reserves were being used to help with the dark ritual.

"The impersonated student also provided the Portkey co-ordinates to the maze so an abduction attempt could be made. One of the Death Eaters captured today was one of the two from the maze."

"What's going to happen now?" Harry asked.

"The Death Eaters are being sent to an ICW prison. They claimed to be under the Imperious curse and Fudge was all set to release them. But we wouldn't allow it and investigated ourselves and proved they weren't. The bundle, which appeared to be Voldemort in a temporary body is being cast through a Veil of Death at the Ministry's Department of Mysteries," Ramsey said, "Dumbledore feels your safety is in even more question and wants you to remain in England. He offered to get the English Crown Prosecution Service to drop the charges against the Dursley family so you could go to them, but I reminded him of the ICW ruling. You and your family are returning to Australia today following the presentation ceremony.

"As for Dumbledore, we now have enough evidence to have him convicted of child endangerment among various other crimes."

"What about the missing student?" Harry asked.

"Thanks to the information we gathered, we have found him safe and well. Fudge sadly, has issued an executive order banning him from talking to our Aurors or the press." Ramsey said.

* * *

"The winner of the Triwizard Tournament is Fleur Delacour." Minister Fudge said in the Great Hall an hour later, "Not only did she collect the Triwizard Cup, she also uncovered a conspiracy to overthrow the Ministry. In addition to her 1,000 galleons prize money, she will also be awarded an Order of Merlin, First Class."

There was a round of applause from most of the students except for certain Slytherins, who knew that Fleur's actions had led to their fathers being arrested for Death Eater activity. Following the ceremony, Fudge and Dumbledore walked over to Harry who was standing holding hands with Daphne in addition to Aunt Sarah, the family, Headmistress Daniels and the Australian Ambassador.

"Congratulations on your performance in the Tournament Mr. Potter," Fudge said, "It is a pity you didn't win. Now, I understand you're returning to Australia later on today."

"That's right Minister." Harry said.

"Is there any way we can convince you to stay here in England and attend Hogwarts?" Fudge asked, "I understand your Muggle apprenticeship is over with the death of the man who was going to make you his apprentice."

"I am prepared to name you a Prefect and Quidditch Captain, then for your final year, you will be Head Boy." Dumbledore said. Anyone who was listening knew it was an obvious bribe.

"No," Harry said, "I'm very happy where I am and I do not intend to go to another school. I'm lucky I was able to be taught Potions by the Beauxbatons group considering the actions of your Professor Snape – does he know how to teach?" Harry asked.

"As it happens," Daniels added, "Mr. Potter might be a Prefect at my school next year." She too had been informed about Harry's nomination for House Prefect.

Dumbledore was about to say something but the Ambassador stepped in.

"You cannot force Mr. Potter to remain in England and attend this school of yours. He is a legal Australian citizen as of 1988 and is therefore protected by our laws. You, Dumbledore, are walking on very thin ice at the moment, getting your agents to abduct him while he was on a holiday, and you, Minister Fudge, allowing your Senior Undersecretary to impose restrictions on him that made him feel like a prisoner." He said.

"I beg you Mr. Potter, please stay in England." Fudge said, "I promised the people you would stay."

"The ICW ruled I was to be allowed to return to Australia unmolested. If you do not stop this, I will be forced to take it up with them," Harry said, "You should never make promises you can't keep." He walked over to Aunt Sarah, Uncle Alex and the twins who were trying to pull Harry's trunk together. Hedwig was perched on Isobel's head who didn't seem to mind.

Fudge and Dumbledore walked over as Ramsey got an item out of his pocket and passed it over.

"Then you leave me no choice," Fudge said, "Harry James Potter, under the Prophecy Act of 1721, I am ordering you to be placed under arrest and held in protective custody."

"We know of this so-called Prophecy," Ramsey said, "and we are satisfied that Mr. Potter has settled the terms of it by vanquishing Voldemort as an infant."

"Aurors, take Mr. Potter into custody." Fudge said. Two Aurors stepped forward. Australian Aurors raised their wands at them.

"You carry out that illegal order," Ramsey said, "and you will not only find yourselves arrested, my government will see it as an act of war."

The Aurors backed away. Fudge and Dumbledore had another card to play.

"I hoped it wouldn't come to this," Fudge said, "But under Ministry by-law 921, if you do not consent to attend Hogwarts, then the contents of the Potter vaults and all properties owned by the Potter family will be seized by the Ministry of Magic."

"We thought you might try to pull something like this," Ramsey said, getting some paper out, "This is an executive order from the ICW granting the Potter vaults immunity from seizure unless an actual crime has been committed." He turned his attention back to Harry and the others.

"As for this Portkey, it will take you to the European Terminal," Ramsey said, "From there, you can take the next Portkey to the Hong Kong Terminal which will take you to the Oceanic Terminal and from there, there will be a Ministry car to take you to your home. Minister, Dumbledore, you will not attempt to trace this Portkey to find out where Mr. Potter lives."

"Thank you for everything you've done Ambassador," Aunt Sarah said. Harry shook his hand, also offering his thanks.

"It's no problem Mr. Potter," Ramsey said, "We always take the abduction of our citizens seriously."

"Ready to go?" Aunt Sarah asked.

"Wait a moment." Harry said. He called Daphne, Luna and Fleur over, "I'll see you three when you come to Australia sometime."

"It'll be sooner than that Harry," Fleur said, "Headmistress Daniels offered me a job at the Academy, and I accepted, hoping to improve my English."

"Headmaster," Aunt Sarah said, "Xenophilius Lovegood has withdrawn Luna from Hogwarts." She handed him a piece of parchment that Mr. Lovegood had given her.

"Thank you." Luna said. She took something out of her pocket and enlarged it – it was her trunk. Then, in front of everyone, she took her Hogwarts clothing off. Thankfully, she was wearing normal clothes underneath. From what it looked like, she had planned to run away. She piled them in front of Dumbledore, "I've had enough of the way people treat me here and how you allow it."

"My father has done the same." Daphne said, "he's making arrangements for us to move to Australia."

"Miss Lovegood, Miss Greengrass – if you withdraw from Hogwarts before taking your O.W.L's, then I will have to snap your wand and bind your magic." Dumbledore said. Headmistress Daniels gave him a piece of paper confirming Daphne and Luna's transfer to the Academy. It also indicated that they had taken a single mock OWL exam. The paperwork now made it illegal for Dumbledore to snap their wands and bind their magic.

"Can you answer one thing first?" Fudge asked, "If you were going to forfeit the task, why have people come?"

"Because," Aunt Sarah said, "We had to come and collect Harry, also it would have looked suspicious if no-one came to support him, especially after Dumbledore gave permission."

Before Dumbledore and Fudge could do anything, the Falk family, Harry and Luna put their hands on the Portkey (which was a piece of rope) which Ramsey activated. The group vanished leaving a stunned face Dumbledore, Fudge and Ramsey, who had a slight chuckle. Fudge was about to go purple – when the public found out he had let the Boy-Who-Lived leave England again, they were going to force him out of office.

Before Dumbledore could do anything, Marianne Valentine and Neville Longbottom walked up to him. They also gave him notices of being withdrawn from Hogwarts to attend Sydney. What he didn't know was that the arrangements had been made since Easter. Theodore Nott was nowhere to be found. His father was one of the captured Death Eaters and believing that people would think the worse of him because of it, Theodore scarpered. He personally had nothing to do with any plans to capture Harry and had he known about it, he would have warned his friend.

Ramsey escorted Phoebe and her family to the airport where they took a plane back to Australia.

* * *

Two days later, Harry walked into the main hall of the Sydney Academy to tremendous applause.

"What's this all about?" he asked, "I didn't win the Triwizard."

"It's like this," a student said, "You really humiliated Hogwarts, Dumbledore and their Ministry. Here you go." The student passed a glass of butterbeer over, "I convinced Mother to let me have a bottle of the 1901 vintage for the occasion." Australian 1901 butterbeer was very valuable and it was only ever drunk on a very special occasion. It was brewed to mark the passing of the English throne from Queen Victoria to King Edward VII.

That same day, Aurors walked into the Hogwarts Great Hall and went up to Dumbledore and Snape – both were arrested and marched away after their wands were taken away and they had magical inhibitors placed on their necks.

* * *

Two weeks later, the following articles appeared in _The Quibbler_. Copies were sent to France, Bulgaria and Australia.

 **ALBUS DUMBLEDORE SENTENCED TO PRISON**

 _We all know the unhealthy interest Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts has had in the Boy-Who-Lived Harry Potter. He was finally put on trial two days ago by the International Confederation of Wizards on the following charges:_

 _1)_ _Child Endangerment – following the deaths of James and Lily Potter, he sent Harry to Mrs. Potter's magic hating Muggle relatives (Vernon and Petunia Dursley) where he was subject to three years of beatings and forced to live as a slave. This was illegal as the Dursleys are registered magic haters and it is against the law to send the heir to a pureblood family to magic hating Muggles. It appears that both Dursleys had spent two years in prison from 1977 - 1979 for assaulting a witch._

 _2)_ _Kidnapping – there are two charges here, the first when he had Harry taken from his home and legal guardian Sirius Black to serve his exile at the Dursley residence and the second when he had his agents abduct him from the Quidditch World Cup. The second incident was treated leniently as Dumbledore had no idea where he had been and with the Death Eater attack, he had cause to fear for Harry's safety._

 _3)_ _Attempted False Imprisonment – Dumbledore tried to prevent Harry from leaving the castle for anything from Hogsmeade visits to the First Task of the Triwizard. When Harry left the castle for the holidays, he had to do so in secret with only the knowledge of Professor Flitwick, his acting head of house._

 _4)_ _Perverting the Course of Justice – he offered to convince the Muggle Crown Prosecution Service to drop charges against the Dursley family so Harry could be sent back there. An examination of his diary revealed that compulsion charms would have been used if nothing else worked._

 _5)_ _Assault – he arranged for Severus Snape and Draco Malfoy to ambush him during the Triwizard's First Task. In return, he would have paid off all of Snape's Gambling debts. It was also found out during the questioning that if he was able to get his way and become Harry's guardian, gaining access to his vaults, it would have been Mr. Potter's money paying off Snape's debts._

 _6)_ _Espionage – he made frequent attempts to steal Mr. Potter's mail despite being warned that it was protected by diplomatic privilege._

 _7)_ _Theft –_ _a search of his office revealed many items which had been stolen from the Potters' home at Godric's Hollow,_ _which included several family heirlooms_ _, including one from the legendary Peverell family from which the Potters married into._ _These have all been returned to Mr. Potter._

 _8) Attempted Theft – he attempted to enter a Potter vault at Gringotts but his entry was refused._

 _He was also going to allow libel about Mr. Potter be spread throughout Hogwarts along with a death threat, which was actually shown in Professor Severus Snape's Potions classes._ _For those who do not know,_ _student Draco Malfoy distributed badges proclaiming support for Hogwarts champion Cedric Diggory, which also contained messages stating: Potter Stinks, Potter is a Cheat and a Liar and Potter is a Dead Man. Mr. Malfoy also started betting pools on how long it would take Harry to die in the first task. Thankfully, this whole thing was put to a stop._

 _Following the presentation ceremony of the Triwizard Cup, Mr. Potter and his family, along with my daughter were able to leave despite attempts by Dumbledore and Fudge. Dumbledore was arrested a couple of days later and put on trial. He has received a total of one hundred years, which he will spend in an ICW prison, wearing a magical suppression collar. This is to ensure Dumbledore cannot summon his phoenix to allow him to escape._

 _The Minister attempted to invoke laws to allow him to arrest Harry and seize the contents of the Potter vaults. Ambassadors Jeffery Ramsey with the help of the ICW made sure it didn't happen._

 _Hogwarts Potions teacher Severus Snape was also arrested. It was discovered that he leaked much information to You-Know-Who, including everything he knew about the Potters. He also admitted to looting the Potter house in Godric's Hollow. He was able to keep the items stolen hidden from debt collectors - Snape owes over 15,000 galleons in gambling debts. He was sentenced to a whole life sentence. The stolen items were returned to Mr Potter._

 _Student Draco Malfoy was also arrested for his part in the events of the past year. He admitted to trying to sexually assault visiting Sydney students, using a bone-breaking hex on Harry Potter among other crimes. He was sentenced to two years in a juvenile detention facility followed by another five years in an adult prison. His only remaining possession, besides his Hogwarts robes and books_ _, a Nimbus 2001,_ _was given to Harry Potter in compensation. Mr. Potter then donated it to a Muggleborn friend of his._

 **CORNELIUS FUDGE FORCED OUT OF OFFICE!**

 _It was also announced today that Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic was sacked last night. When Harry Potter was found last year, Fudge promised the people that Mr. Potter would never leave England again. When it was revealed that he had left the country following the completion of the Triwizard, there was public uproar. A vote of no confidence in Mr. Fudge was announced and he was forced to resign._

 _Amelia Bones of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement was named Minister shortly_ _afterwards_ _and she denounced the illegal actions of the previous administration. She has promised to leave Mr. Potter alone, stating that Mrs. Sarah Falk was one of the guardians listed in James and Lily Potter's wills. She also told the people that if we want any hope of Mr. Potter returning to England at any point, the persecution of him must stop._

 _Fudge was arrested a few days later and charged with Conspiracy. Following the third task of the Triwizard, when Death Eaters attempted to abduct Harry Potter from the maze, they used the words Imperious Curse and Fudge had them released and blocked attempts to have the claims investigated. He also attempted to free Lucius Malfoy when he attempted to kill Mr Potter, the Beauxbatons champion and a friend of Mr Potter's. He was sentenced to twenty years in an ICW prison._

 **SALE OF WIZENGAMONT VOTES**

 _At a meeting of the Wizengamot, Lord Matthew Greengrass announced that through his godfather Sirius Black, Harry Potter has sold the Potter Wizengamont votes to House Greengrass for the sum of 2 galleons on condition that they be used to help bring in more rights for Muggleborns. Lord Greengrass informed the gathering that he would not be following his daughters to Australia, to which they had Black, before his departure to Australia, sold his votes to House Longbottom, also for 2 galleons._

* * *

Ambassador Ramsey visited Hermione Granger's parents and told them everything she had been up to. Hermione was still laid up in bed following her spinal injuries, which Madam Pomfrey said she could not cure (which was a lie but who was to know that) and St Mungos were too busy to worry about a Muggleborn.

"I received a letter from her asking me to arrange for Harry Potter's aunt and uncle to be released from prison as the charges were false and Sarah Falk kidnapped him," Mr Granger said, "I was a witness at their trial as not only did they abuse their nephew, they had also abused other children, including one who was a regular patient in my practice.

"I told her that they were guilty and that Sarah Falk was Harry's legal guardian but she wouldn't have it. She kept insisting Mrs Falk was guilty and she was not Harry's aunt. She's been hysterical since that magazine came out announcing the Hogwarts headmaster was jailed. Hermione kept insisting he was innocent and that Mrs Falk was the guilty party and she would prove it."

Mrs Granger stepped forward. "We've heard rumours about magical mind control but because we're Muggles, our concerns weren't listened too."

"Would you like me to examine her?" the Ambassador asked. Mr Granger said they would.

The Ambassador went up to Hermione with both adult Grangers supervising. He waved his wand and confirmed there were no spells on her.

"Has she always been like this with authority figures?" he asked.

"Well, when the Headmaster at her last school was sent to prison for murder, she was the only one to protest his innocence despite undisputable evidence the man was guilty. She was hysterical over the whole episode." Mr. Granger said.

"Has she always taken stock of what's written in books?"

"To Hermione," Mrs Granger said, "if it's not written down in a book, then it's a lie."

"In my opinion Mr and Mrs Granger," Ambassador Ramsey began, "Hermione needs professional help. Mr Potter and his family have grounds to press charges against her for slander and harassment. If you promise to get Hermione the help that she no doubt needs, I'm sure I can persuade them not to file charges."

Just to be on the safe side, the Grangers had Hermione checked over by two metal health healers from St Mungo's, sent by Madam Pomfrey upon Ambassador Ramsey's request. They too ruled she was in need of professional help. It was recommended she be taken to St Mungos for full psychiatric treatment. Her parents reluctantly agreed.

* * *

Towards the end of the holidays, Harry received a letter stating that he was the new House Prefect. It turned out that other houses added a vote for him besides one from their own house which was very unusual. As one person later told him, they felt the way he humiliated Hogwarts made him perfect for the job.


End file.
